Sacrificial
by Freida Right
Summary: /AU/ The Lost have been brought back, and everything ought to be perfect now... But seeds of anger and jealousy have made 5 weak for an insidious invasion from another clan with a sinister purpose. Can the woman he loves be trusted, or is she just an all-consuming enchantress? Now is the time for 5's adventure...
1. Prologue: The Gathering

I have never really attempted an AU story—the best definition of Alternate Universe in this fandom being that all of the Lost have survived or been brought back, somehow. I had never thought it could really work, because I'm a notorious traditionalist… But I've read several recently that were all quite good. And the only way this awesome prompt could work is if they all came back, so…

As mentioned in my profile, how exactly the Lost get back is not important in this story, and will not be discussed in any sort of detail, so use your imaginations. The action in this prologue will not make any sense until about half-way through this story, when an OC named Tishrei explains it all. ;)

As always, the Scientist's name is Thomas Townsend; and, _as always_, he has a younger twin, which explains a lot later, **_as_ _always._**

Have fun with that, y'all.

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_Luxembourg, 1943…_

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With everyone gathered together in his attic, Thomas shut the door and locked it fast. Then he turned to the assembly of his friends, slipping the key into the pocket of his lab coat.

"We are running out of time—all of us are," he announced gravely to the four other people. "If we are in agreement to go through with this, we have to begin soon."

The assembly began fidgeting at once, uncomfortable with the obvious pressure. Thomas slowly and lovingly considered each of his friends:

Ian Townsend, his slightly younger twin brother, whose talents were more to the artistic than the mechanical. Ian supported his twin in every way that he could, as any good brother would do. But when Thomas had brought that strange book back home one afternoon, nearly a year and a half ago, Ian had known something was up. He wanted no hand in it, but had remained available for his brother in any way he could find. Today, he was the most skeptical of Thomas' plan.

Johan Sprech, a local blacksmith and a diligent, talented craftsman. Thomas had always admired the man's admirable strength of body and soul; Johan gave full credit to the Lord of Hosts, to which Thomas had always shaken his head. If such an omniscient, all-powerful, loving God existed, He would have done something about all the troubles going on. Still, Johan held stoically to the only belief he had ever known.

Eli Goldberg, who had been hiding not only in Thomas' attic, but also in the attics of other friends for the past few weeks. Only Eli and a handful of his Jewish brethren remained in Luxembourg now; most of them had already been rounded up and sent away. Any one of the Jews who remained hiding in the city was likely to be discovered at any moment. Thomas and his small group of friends were taking a great risk, hiding him like this, and were doomed to be executed on the spot if they were caught. Eli had the option of fleeing the city for shelter; but the fact that he stayed to help Thomas with his scheming was humbling to the nearsighted scientist.

Analyn Rossgard, a mysterious and beautiful woman who flaunted her age of 42 because she didn't look a day over 20. How she accomplished that was uncertain, but she gave credit to dark magic. It had been her knowledge of alchemy that had led Thomas to the terrible tome called _Annuls of Paracelsus_, and the power of the Source-bound talisman that had brought the Machine to life. And while he tried to avoid Analyn's craft more than ever, he had been madly in love with her for as long as he had known her. The power she all but handed him was as sweetly seductive as the rest of her. It had been more than he could resist, and now he was paying for dearly.

And each of them had their own quarrel with Thomas' plan.

"This dabbling in the dark arts has brought us all nothing but trouble, brother," Ian protested. "Look how well that venture has worked so far. I don't want any hand in whatever you have planned next."

"Surely, this is witchcraft," Johan grumbled, crossing his arms. "I know what the Lord has said about such things. It's a noble plan, in its own light, but there are other kosher solutions—no offense, Eli."

"None taken, my good sir," Eli agreed from the cot where he slept at night. "And I agree with Johan. I will not soil my hands with what the God of my fathers has prohibited."

"The three of you are being narrow-minded and silly," Analyn said coolly, calmly, slightly unimpressed with their skepticism but not entirely surprised. "My one concern is how little you truly know of this craft. It is a delicate art, and you've taken it far too lightly in the past."

"I know, I know," Thomas agreed, well aware of these various complaints and a laundry list of others. More than any of them, he all too aware of the truth in Analyn's words; as cool as she remained, he knew that she was overwhelmingly disappointed in him.

"Everyone, I know that this plan is unusual, but I, at least, have to do something about what will come next. We all have to face it—in less than a year, this city will lay in ruin, and all who live here will be dead. _We_ will all be dead. And it's all my fault that this has happened. I cannot allow everything to be destroyed so utterly."

"But by means of witchcraft?" Ian insisted. "I am with Johan and Eli—not that anything their invisible God has to say about it carries any real weight, but there must be another way."

While Johan and Eli rolled their eyes and bit their tongues, Analyn sighed, annoyed, and moved up beside Thomas.

"Do what you will, boys," she said. "For myself, I am in as deep as Thomas. If he is going to go through with this, then I will go with him."

Thomas stifled a sigh of his own, beyond relieved that Analyn was on his side. But the others were silent for a long moment, seemingly staunch in their refusal.

"Ian," she continued, "I'm surprised at you, who has the least to believe in of any of us."

"I need only myself to believe in," he answered indignantly. "That is enough."

"Not from where the rest of us stand. You trust so heavily in your own abilities—abilities that have barely kept you fed or housed these last few months."

"It's not my fault if these people choose technology over artistry! My craft is just as mastered and valid as my brother's!"

"And what of you, Johan?" she asked, turning to the stoic blacksmith. "You cling so ferociously to the last scrap of faith you have. But when was the last time you actually attended a Sunday service? Now is the time to decide if you are in or out."

Johan's face turned red with anger and shame. He still liked to think of himself as a Christian man… But behind the façade, he knew that his faith has left him long ago.

"And Eli," she continued, "you're as bad as Johan, holding onto traditions that you don't even believe in anymore. Your family is gone, and probably dead by now. If your God was ever going to come down and save them or do _anything_ relevant, He would have done it by now. Where is He?"

To this, Eli looked down at his shoes and sighed heavily, sadly, as the weight of her words sank in. Though he continued dutifully to remain loyal to his old ways, it was doing him no good. In fact, it was wearing him thin.

A brief silence passed before Thomas spoke again.

"Gentlemen. None of us have anything left to lose. Analyn and I could use your help."

The three men exchanged a slow, wary glace.

"I suppose you're both right," Ian said at last, walking to join them.

"Where is God, indeed," Eli mused, rising from his cot and walking after Ian.

Head bowed, looking defeated, Johan quietly filed behind them.

"I will never be forgiven for this…" he mumbled.

Analyn turned back to Thomas and said, "I hope that you've studied hard and know what you're doing this time."

He nodded solidly. "Yes. This time, I know exactly what I am doing."


	2. Five Years Later

This chapter begins the M rating. I'll be interested to see what Barn Owl Girl has to say at the end… 0.o

(It's not that I'm _trying_ to outdo you, sweetie; I just want to see if I _can_, is all. XD)

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_Luxembourg, 1949…_

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The Lost had been dead for a year; and now, it had only been two weeks and a few days since they had been brought back to life. And even though he had been dead all that time, 5 had been certain his brother would find a way to bring them back. 9 was too determined—and frankly, too guilty—to let them go that easily.

They didn't really know the details of his quest yet; his long, arduous journey to haul them back to the world of the living had left him exhausted, even after two weeks. Pleasantly exhausted, but exhausted, nonetheless. Mostly, all he had done recently was sleep, and sleep, and sleep some more. This had worried 5 at first, and made him burn with a curiosity that was unusual in him. What had 9 been through while they had been dead? What had he done to bring them back? Whatever the answers, 9 was entirely too tired to give any.

Still desperately wanting to know what had happened, 5 and the rest of the Lost turned to 7 for answers. Answers which she was leery about giving at first. She had personally stayed out of it, unable to understand most of it, herself. All she knew for certain was that it had an awful lot to do with the talisman and Sources and "the book", as she lovingly referred to _Annul of Paracelsus_. She didn't care for that knowledge any more than the rest of them did.

But 9 had jumped into it head-first, attempting to make sense of it. And after months of intense study, he had announced that he was going to bring the Lost back to life. 7 had laughed in his face, sure that he was joking, because the very idea was ridiculous to her. But he had left on his quest soon thereafter—because he never, _ever_ joked about things that sounded ridiculous. He would be away from the library for weeks at a time, returning only to leave behind things he had collected when he could carry no more. And then he would stay for a few days, make sure that she and the twins were still alive and well. And then he would leave again.

7 hadn't cared for it in the slightest. It hadn't been much different from how things had been before; the original prospect of not having to be alone anymore had been welcome, and having it disrupted so rudely had been frustrating. But when she was alone with her brother, she was able to say much more; only when she was in his confidence could she openly admit how very lonely she had been.

"I had spent so much time thinking that 9 was out on a wild goose chase, leaving me in the dust to chase a fantasy that stemmed from guilt. I didn't think that he could _really_ bring you back," she said one night. With a wry smile, she patted her brother on the shoulder. "I should have known better than to doubt him, after everything that happened. I'll be kicking myself about it forever."

5 smiled back and placed his hand on hers. "I don't usually like seeing you wrong," he said, "but I'm glad to be back."

7 sighed and looked away from him, casting her eyes at her feet. "I've seen so little of him for so long. We've barely spoken more than a few words in months. Even now that he's home again, here in the same building, he's so tired; I've only really talked to him once or twice since he's been back. I'm not even sure if I know him anymore. I… I've missed him so much."

5 wasn't surprised; in fact, he was pleased. In his former life, watching his sister and his best friend falling for each other had been a thing of beauty. He had always known he would never know what it felt like for himself; romance seemed like a bigger emotion than he wanted to handle. Watching 7 and 9, in all their adorable awkwardness, had been enough for him. And in death, it gave him comfort; even if he couldn't be there to know for himself, they still had each other to lean on—and that was what love was all about, he supposed. He wished he could have seen how their romance panned out…

He had expected that it would blossom into something divine and all-consuming in his absence. Returning to see that it had gone stagnant was disheartening. Darn that 9, why did he always make the wrong moves with this woman? To 5, _that_ was frustrating as well as painful to watch. At least there was still hope for them and their floundering relationship. If 7 felt so poorly about it, he was sure that 9 felt as bad about himself as ever for leaving her alone for so long. It would be fitting…

Oh, how lovely. He would get to watch them fall head-over-heels for each other all over again. He wasn't sure if he was looking forward to it or not, if the ride would be as fun as before, or just as aggravating. Hopefully, without the pressure of soul-sucking mechanical monsters holding them back, the ride would actually go somewhere this time. The world was finally theirs, after all—it was about time they seized it.

One night not too long thereafter, they all sat together in one of their common rooms, just talking and being together. Feeling much better than he had been, 9 had pried himself out of bed to join them. It was the first real time all nine of them had been together in one place. The hero himself had little to say that evening; he just sat quietly with them, enjoying their presence in happy silence. His quest was finally done, his faults were finally behind him, and at last, he was at peace with himself. 5 had never particularly seen him comfortable in his own skin; seeing it now warmed his heart.

Better yet, 7 sat proudly beside him, his hand held tightly in hers. And even though she was more vocal than he was, she rested her head lightly against his shoulder. She was so happy that she seemed to glow.

Things were going to be just fine from now on.

After a while, 7 sat back up and look 9 sternly in the eye.

"Can I have a word with you?" she asked seriously.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No; I just need to see you alone. It will only take a minute."

"Of course," he agreed right away, and let her lead him out of the space.

"We'll be right back," he called to the others over his shoulder as they vanished into the shadows.

5 rolled his eye, not believing that for a second. He didn't expect them to be back for a while. Either a deep and meaningful talk or a loud and uproarious fight was about to occur. But at least it was happening, finally. The tension had been eating him alive all evening.

Nearly an hour passed, and they still hadn't returned. 5 wasn't surprised or worried about this; but when 1 and 2 looked up and realized that their companions were still gone, they became concerned.

"Perhaps you should go look for them," 2 suggested. "They could be in trouble."

"It's doubtful," 5 answered, unwilling to get involved in business that wasn't his. "I'm sure they're fine. If you're so curious, go spy on them yourselves."

"If they're fighting again, they'll need _someone_ to diffuse it," 1 pointed out, "and they both listen to you."

5 slowly considered that this was true. While he still didn't feel right about spying on his friends, the idea that they might be tearing into each other bothered him. Wondering vaguely why he _still_ allowed 1 to sway him so, he ventured into the dark to find them.

He didn't have to venture far, either. He turned a corner and stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw:

He had caught them in firry, passionate embrace, their lips inseparably locked. 7's brilliant white form seemed to shimmer against 9's dark skin, as if she really was glowing. With her knee pressed gently to his thigh, she feverishly caressed his face, his neck, and his shoulders; it was as if she felt doomed to die if she dared release him for even a second.

9 held her close, his arms wrapped tight around her waist. He ran his hands over every inch of her back, and traced the outline of the leather patchwork that hid her number-name; and he softly, sweetly let his hand wander up and down her leg, unable to help himself. Still tired, his movements weren't quite as passionate as hers, but they were still every bit as heartfelt and intense. With every new move he made, 7 moaned quietly and sighed deeply into his kiss, pulling his face a little closer to hers if it was at all possible.

For a long and tense moment, 5 stood stock still, paralyzed by panic. Willing his stupid feet to move, he backed up behind the corner again, thanking every power he knew of that he hadn't been seen. He found himself shaking a little, battling back a sudden urge to scream at the top of his lungs. However, his bewilderment and curiosity quickly got the better of him, and he peered back around the corner in time to see 9 pull back slightly.

"What is it?" 7 asked, her voice husky—she had been crying.

"I just need to look at you," he hushed, panting a little, cupping her face in his hand. "I haven't seen you in so… You're so beautiful…"

Overwhelmed by all the things, she let her face fall wearily into his shoulder, and he held her fiercely as she began to weep again.

"I love you," she whispered shakily, as loud as she could manage.

"Oh, 7—my sweet 7—I love you, too," he whispered back, nuzzling her face. "And I… I know I haven't done a good job of showing that lately. I've been gone for far too long, and I'm sorry. But I hoped… I want you to know, I've done all this _because_ I love you. I always have. From the moment I saw you, I have loved you. So, so, _so_ much. And I always will."

"Don't ever leave me again."

"No," he agreed, snuggling her closer. "Never, _never_ again."

5 turned away, unable to watch or hear any more. His mechanical stomach plummeted painfully to his feet, and he wasn't entirely sure why. Feeling as if he had just witnessed something very illegal, he trudged back to the common room, unsure of what he would say to the others. By the time he did make it back, he felt oddly numb and a little dizzy; it was all he could do to stumble into the light and lean heavily against the pile of books that formed the doorway, with a blank, unreadable expression on his face.

Naturally, his behavior confused everyone; at once, 2 was worried again.

"5? What's wrong? What happened? Where are 9 and 7?"

"They aren't fighting, are they?" 1 prodded, not caring about 5's obvious mood.

"No, they're fine," he answered starkly, staring at nothing in particular. It was probably better not to blurt out everything he had just seen, like he desperately wanted to. He was still trying to process it, himself. He paused for a minute, trying to figure out where to go from there.

"…I'm going to bed," he mumbled, turning sluggishly and stalking into the shadows toward his own room.

During his first few days back in the library, when he had built his room out of stacks of books, he had built the front wall out of a single book, standing upright, so he could use the back cover as a door. In a world where functional, solid doors were scarce, he valued their usefulness and the privacy they provided. He walked into the small, dark space, shut the door behind him, and leaned back against it, not sure what to do with himself next. Never before had he appreciated having a door so much, even though it wasn't hiding anything unusual, really.

5 fell back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling, trying to sort through his conflicting emotions. His sister and his best friend… He had been so happy for them for so long, pulling for their success, fearing that he would never see what would come of it. But to suddenly see it so close, purely and simply the way it really was… He should have been overjoyed. This was what he had hoped for all along.

Instead, he surprised himself by feeling confused and… angry. Something about seeing them so perfectly happy made him simmer with a rage he couldn't explain. Something about the way 9 had spoken so gently, so lovingly, so full of promise:

"_I want you to know, I've done all this _because_ I love you. I always have. From the moment I saw you, I have loved you. So, so, _so_ much. And I always will."_

It dawned on him finally, why it vexed him so. This second life was to be seized with the courage he had lacked in the previous one, because this one was full of opportunity. And after all this time, he was ready. Suddenly, he wasn't afraid to love someone so deeply anymore. Suddenly, he wanted to know what that was like for himself, and he wanted it so badly that it burned like a fire inside.

"And why is it _them_, anyway?" he inquired of the ceiling. "They're _so_ happy, aren't they? The only woman in our world, and she chooses him over me…"

Another vexing revelation made him sit up pin-straight.

"_And_ she's my sister! We could never have been together anyway!" he exclaimed, more put out than ever before. The disappointment was crushing. He flopped back on his pillow and scowled at the ceiling, which wasn't being very insightful.

"I'll never know what that's like…" he concluded dismally. "Now what am I supposed to do with my life? It suddenly seems so empty, so pointless. Why did he bother bringing me back, only to torture me like this?"

The ceiling remained silent, unhelpful as usual. Still struggling with himself, wondering where all this anger and jealousy had come from, he felt sleep begin to overtake him.

_Surely, this will pass by morning,_ he reasoned, letting his eye close slowly. He fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.


	3. The Way Things Begin

I'm in that boat with 5. I feel as if I've _done_ something illegal. 0.o

More dedication to Barn Owl Girl. I've got her so close to the edge of her seat, I'm surprised she hasn't fallen off it, hit her head on her computer desk, and gone to the hospital in a coma. I also owe her a four course meal based on the next few chapters. Just… I know what you're thinking, and don't. Do not ask. It's better for everyone that way. XP

Also, before we launch into a chapter that is _WAAAAY_ rated M for _MATURE_, I just want to point out that I am most likely significantly older than most of my avid followers. I should warn you lot now that this chapter is very heavy on adult themes out of necessity. The site prohibits anything _too_ explicit—though it feels like I'm overstepping that boundary, 'cause I'm normally so modest. :/

Luckily for us, 1 is an egghead in this chapter. Have fun with that. ;)

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_The Way Things Begin_

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In the past few happy weeks, the days had grown cooler and cooler. It was sometime in the middle of autumn, now. Even though the cold was creeping into the library, sinking in deeper by night, neither 9 nor 7 could be bothered by it. Their marriage bed was a fortress to keep them safe from the season's chill—it had been a gift built out of love that had been forged in fire, until it became something steady and unbreakable.

For a long while, they sat in their bed in comfortable, affectionate silence; and 9 took that time to marvel at the young woman nestled happily in his arms. Her head down upon his shoulder; one arm around his waist, her other hand against the arm the held her so dearly close; her knee slung casually over his legs, enough to keep his whole lower half warm.

He let his hand wander down her thigh, savoring the feel of the strong, toned muscles beneath. 7 was an athlete; she was sturdy, graceful and strong from years of self-training. His own journey had taught him plenty about physical strength—not that he had been a weakling to begin with. He liked to think he had gotten stronger over the course of his quest… But he felt as soft and squishy as a puddle of mud, compared to his bride. His nature merited soft-and-squishiness; it complimented her hardness well, he supposed.

"Are you asleep?" he asked after a long time has passed in silence.

"No," she answered with a very content sigh, and looked up to face him. "I'm just comfortable."

"I was just wondering; you've been so quiet."

7 gave him a mischievous grin. "I could change that, if you'd like," she offered, nuzzling his face sweetly.

9 chuckled a little, liking very much where this was going. "The night is still very young," he agreed.

That was all the invitation 7 needed. Gently taking his face in her hands, she pressed her lips against his with a soft sigh. The first kiss was sweet enough; but as they moved in again and again, it became more intense. She slowly, fluidly slipped her leg farther across his hips until she was sitting squarely on top of him, all her weight against his chest, so he could feel her heart pounding against his own. It felt like their two separate, unique hearts were beating in time, as a single wonderful thing.

It wasn't close enough. He needed it—he _wanted_ it. But he needed and wanted it from his wife, and from her alone. Nothing else dared to be on his mind. Arms around her, he held her closer, closer—as close as they could be without breaking into pieces. And _still_ it wasn't close enough for either of them.

But that would come soon…

Inching forward, a teasing bit at a time, her fingertips trailed down his face and shoulders and down his chest like water, cleverly managing to evade his zipper on each pass. In turn, he let his own hands stray from her back to wander over her willowy sides, her arms and the strong, powerful legs on either side of him. Every now and again, he wrapped his arms back around her and held her closer, if it was possible at all. He had half a mind to reach for her fastening first…

But she had a full mind to that. Her fingers finally found their way around his zipper pull, gripping it lightly, since the action of gently tugging it down, one delightful click at a time, took so little force. The sensation that followed was like a waterfall crashing over his head, making him tense up, yet relax completely in the same instant. It overpowered him, forcing every other thought but the intense pleasure from his mind. It was all he could do to let his head fall back into his pillow, savoring the feel of it. In the last few weeks, he had learned to expect the sudden instinct to tense up, and to let it go—the feeling was so much easier to enjoy if he relaxed and let it be. It was rich and deep, and, in a single word, _good_.

It didn't normally feel so amazing. She was the only one of them who could make him feel this way by doing so little, something that seemed so simple by day. Alone in their bed, it became something much bigger.

It had only been four clicks when 7 stopped suddenly, finally realizing that he had pulled away.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concerned that she was hurting him somehow.

"Don't stop," he whispered back, finding himself amazingly short of breath. He grasped her hand and helped her start again. "Slowly… You can't imagine…"

With a smile, she leaned down to his ear and whispered back, "Maybe I can." Her breath tickled against his neck, warm and soft as the rest of her. Perhaps, with their hearts beating as one, she felt it just as strongly as he did. He hoped so. With his senses adjusting, enough of his mind returned to hope that every time they did this, he made her feel every ounce as good as she made him feel.

She was only halfway done when a sudden burst of sense hit him over the head. He regained enough strength to reach up and carefully stroke the catch on her chest.

"Now it's your turn."

Her eyes slowly slid shut as he undid her, and she shivered as the same waterfall effect came over her. She fell back against him, her mouth back over his where it belonged. He reached inside, feeling for the sensitive wire that led directly to her very soul. There were so many wires to tangle his fingers in, but he knew that he must be close to finding it; any time he barely brushed against it, she gasped and moaned softly into his kiss, her voice rising with each bare touch.

The sound of her voice was almost more than he could stand. Mindful of her quicksilver circuitry, still tangled in his hand, he carefully roller her over on her back until he was on top of her, held fast between those strong legs of hers. He felt the unbearably enjoyable jolt course through his whole body as she reached inside, trying to feel for his own soul wire. But neither of them could quite… Quite—

Then their bedroom door suddenly opened and—of all people—1 walked right in.

"9! Boy, are you deaf?" he demanded. "Didn't you hear—"

They both looked up at once, completely stunned, all possibility of romance suddenly killed. With a cry of alarm, 7 snatched for a sheet to cover herself, more than a little embarrassed that anyone but her husband had seen so much of her. Attempting to shield the rest of her from sight, 9 felt nothing short of furious.

"Get out!" he commanded angrily. "Shut that door!"

Dumbfounded by what he had walked in on, 1 stammered for a response and back away a little too slowly.

"Get out! _Go_!"

Stammering a flustered apology, he scurried back the way he had come and slammed the door shut behind him. As suddenly as he had accidentally appeared, he was gone.

They both found themselves breathing hard from their adventure, but they weren't sure why. Still holding the bed sheet over her open chest, 7 turned to 9 with a dismayed, perplexed look on her face, silently demanding an explanation for why they had been so rudely interrupted. He had none for her, but he had a solution. With a comforting, sort of knowing smile, he climbed out of bed and walked across the room to the door.

It was only a short walk—about three or four steps, total—but his legs felt weak and wobbly from everything that had happened in the last few minutes. From the corner he took a long, thin wooden poll and laced it through a pair of eye-screws on either side of the door, barring it shut. That done, he turned back to his wife, dusting off his hands, the whole mishap behind them.

"Now I'm _really_ glad I thought of that," he said proudly.

Still covering herself, 7 gave him a weak but thankful smile, and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. Seeing that she was still embarrassed, he came back and sat down beside her, and held her hands in his own. They were shaking slightly from an adrenaline crash.

"Hey…"

"I feel ridiculous," she stated plainly.

"Well, you shouldn't," he informed her, giving her a quick, reassuring kiss. "That wasn't our fault."

This time, her smile was much brighter. Reassured, indeed, she let the sheet fall back where she had snatched it from. Even in the dim light, 9 noticed out of the corner of his eye a green colored cable in the midst of her wiring. He looked again to be sure, and his eyes lit up.

"Oh, _there_ it is!" he exclaimed quietly. His cheery observation dissolved all the leftover tension, and they began to laugh; the romance had come back to life. 7 peered into his wiring, and her eyes lit up, as well.

"Found it," she giggled, more girlishly than he had once thought possible. Releasing her hands, he leaned in close and nuzzled her face.

"Let's try this again."

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Not too long after he had left, 1 walked back into the common room and sat down in his favorite corner, a blank and dumbfounded look on his face.

"What happened?" 5 wanted to know, though he was sure from past experience that he could guess easily.

"I'm not going back out there," the old man mumbled tensely. "I refuse to go back out there."

Not bothering to look up from his project, 2 rolled his eyes. "I told you not to bother disturbing the newlyweds. I trust that from now on, when they say they are going 'to bed'," he scolded, using air quotes, "you will leave them be."

"You said you could use his help," 1 countered sourly.

"Oh, it would have been nice; I believe 9 would enjoy working on this generator," 2 agreed, surveying the state of the machine he was building. "But, oh well. There is always tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. Perhaps it is time to call it a night, after all."

5 took that as a sign to begin cleaning up. Suddenly, he wanted to crawl under his blanket and forget about stupid 1 and his stupid adventure.

"I sure hope that 9 can help us with this thing tomorrow," he commented absently, not fully aware that he was speaking. "I've missed him; he hasn't been much fun recently…"

He only realized that he'd said the last part out loud when he looked up and saw the concerned frown on 2's face.

"You might not be much fun either, if you'd just married the woman of your dreams," he pointed out. "We have who-knows-how-long to live together. Give them a while to just be a married couple. That might not last very long for them… Just be happy for them."

"What do you mean, that might not last?"

Perhaps 2 hadn't realized that he was speaking out loud, either. He shook his head and waved it away. "Never mind that, for now. Let's just get this mess cleaned up. We certainly know how to take over a space, don't we, 5?"

5 supposed that was true. Their work area had a wide radius, dominating most of the common room floor. This always seemed to happen, when they immersed themselves in a project. He had always found it relaxing and enjoyable to work with his father, whether they spent that time in conversation or companionable silence.

But now it was different. From the beginning, 9 had loved to tinker as much as they did. The idea that they might work together from now on, had been an idea that 5 had looked forward to and gotten excited about. But his brother had been too tired to move much, at first, and now he was always busy with his marriage. It seemed like he never really had the spare time to work with them. It was disappointing, and it sparked that same unusual anger from before.

Even though he gathered his things in neutral silence, it seemed like 2 read his thoughts like an open book.

"5, why are you so angry with them?"

"What? I'm not angry."

His father raised an eyebrow at him, his unimpressed expression clearly telling him to be honest with himself.

He sighed heavily, feeling defeated. "I just thought I'd see more of them," he lamented. "I was so excited to see them again. But now that we're all here, it's just like it was before: 7's vanished, and 9 had may as well not even exist. I _never_ see them, these days. I…"

He wanted to admit how jealous he was, deep down inside. But he knew that would only cause more trouble.

"I really miss them," he said instead.

"That is not true, and you know it. You spent three days helping 9 build that bed. He came to _you_ when he needed help."

"Then he climbed right into it, and I've barely seen him since then."

Partially forgotten in his corner, 1 scoffed and stood up. "You shouldn't envy them so," he commented, striding toward the door in his _superior_ way. "Perhaps the confines of marriage have their enviable side, but they are confines, all the same. It means work, and patience, and tireless effort for husband and wife, alike. In my opinion, they've opened a dangerous can of worms that I do not envy in the slightest."

"Well, no one asked your opinion," 2 countered, sounding put out. "You're not going to bother them again, are you?"

"Goodness, no! I am going to bed, and I am going to try to forget what I saw tonight," he answered as he walked out of the room. "Marriage—the very idea. It does not suit me, and it most certainly does _not_ suit you, boy."

That was a disheartening thing to hear from anyone. But 5 was certain that it _could_ suit him, if only he were given a chance. He didn't care what sort of effort a love so deep would take, it _was_ enviable. He had seen it—it had sort of exploded in his face. (Or maybe _he_ had exploded into _its_ face; he wasn't sure.) What was a lot of work, patience and effort, as long as there was someone to share it with? Someone. Anyone.

"You know you shouldn't listen to most of the things he says. I believe you could make any woman very happy," 2 assured him with his usual, kind smile. "Well, I mean, any _ smart_ woman."

"Yeah, if there _was_ one…"

Enlightened to the true problem, 2 reached out and patted 5 on the shoulder. "It's best not to dwell on problems that we can't fix, my boy. If there was a way to fix this one, you know that I would help you do it in a heartbeat. And your brother and sister would help you, as well."

"I know…"

"This is upsetting you so deeply. I am so sorry."

Not even 2 seemed to think there was a solution. More than jealous, 5 felt entirely too hopeless to answer.

"Hey, it's a big, wide world out there; and it's all ours now. Who knows what we might find?"

"Do you think there might be someone else out there?"

"I can't say for certain. But… There might be."

"I hope so."

"And, if all else fails, you still have us. We will always be here for you, because we all love you. You remember that, always."

Now that was a cheery thought. Finally, 5 felt like he could smile again.

"Thank you."

Satisfied with that, 2 returned to cleaning up. "Come on, you, let's get this room back in order. Tomorrow, we'll go out and find the rest of the things we need. We'll have this generator together in no time."

"And in time for a long winter," 5 agreed optimistically, not realizing how prophetic his own words would turn out to be.

2222222222

The next morning dawned with a light frost on the ground—nothing a few minutes of sunlight couldn't frighten away. The air was crisp and cool, refreshing and invigorating, and the sun shone bright, warm enough to keep the autumn air from being too cold. It was still early in the season for the cold to stick too much.

In fact, the day was so lovely, all nine of them ventured out together. It had been weeks since they had really done anything as a family, and the nice weather was too good to waste indoors. Being together like that lifted 5's sunken spirits greatly; usually, he and 2 went out alone—like they had before, in the bad old days. And it was much easier to appreciate his brother and sister when they were with him, walking and talking with each other like the good friends they were.

As far as the generator was concerned, 5 found himself getting very little done. Mostly, he was content to observe the rest of them and what they were doing with their time. Even though they were together, they seemed to have formed little groups to themselves. Somewhere behind them, 2 had stopped to rummage through a pile of trash for findings, and 1 hovered over him critically; but somehow, he had become his brother's pack mule for the day. Every now and again, 2 would pick something up and examine it carefully.

"Ooh… This could do nicely…"

"It's covered in rust. Your precious generator will fall to pieces in a matter of hours."

"No, this is the one," 2 insisted, handing the piece to 1.

"_Please_ tell me that you will be through with this soon."

"Do you want to freeze to death this winter?"

"No—"

"Then hold this for me!"

"Fine…"

That was sure to continue for the rest of the day. 5 found it extremely amusing; though not quite as amusing as what some of the others were doing. At one point, the twins had been a group to themselves. But at another point, they had absorbed 6, who had absorbed 8, and now the four of them were wandering around together. The twins would pick something up, cataloguing its practical uses first, and then the four of them would play around with it for a bit. There was a broken shard of glass, which they found could magnify things slightly—6 held it up over his smaller eye, until it appeared that both his eyes matched. They all took turns making silly faces through it until something else caught their attention.

They also spotted a small beetle scurrying over the frostbitten grass, and 3 was happy to rattle off from memory the exact type of beetle it was. But they didn't exactly care. The twins stood over it, marveling at its relative coolness (3) and cuteness (4). 8 surprised everyone by being intimidated by its quickness.

"I don't like that thing," he protested, backing away as the beetle scurried closer and closer toward his feet. As he backed away, he stumbled and fell over on his back. Seeing the beetle still moving after him, he scooted as far away as he could get, making an amazingly loud fuss over something so much smaller than him. Before it could reach him, 6 stepped between them and scooped the bug up in his hands, saving the day.

"Aw…" he said sympathetically, as if he connected with it—small, kind of unsightly, and misunderstood by the giants that surrounded it. The beetle paused, startled to be caught up by something so huge. But that passed in an instant, and it began crawling over 6's arms, shoulders and head, looking for a way down. Instead of freaking out, 6 began to laugh. Apparently, the beetle's legs tickled him.

"He likes me," he observed with a goofy grin, as is perched for a moment on his head.

"_6, that's so cute!"_ 4 giggled, clapping her hands.

Startled by the flickering of her voice, the beetle changed direction and scurried down 6's arm. He held his hand out to her and said, "Here, you have him."

"_Eep! No way! Not on me!"_

Never too far away from the children, 5 was finally, happily spending some time with 7 and 9. As they meandered around, the three of them tossed a small rock around between them, just talking about things. It was exactly the way he had hoped things would be.

"Have we been too distant lately?" 7 wanted to know. "We thought we had been around… But then we realized this morning that you're halfway through building a generator or something that we didn't know about, and, well…"

"We worried that we haven't been _quite_ as present as we had thought," 9 finished, catching the rock on his turn.

"No, it's really fine," 5 insisted, deciding to ignore all his previous thoughts. "We figured you just needed some time to yourselves."

7 snorted petulantly as she caught the rock from her husband. "1 didn't seem to think so…"

"That was an accident, sis. Let it go."

"I don't really want to," she answered, tossing the rock back to him.

"So true to form. You haven't changed a bit."

"Is that so bad?" she asked sweetly.

He gave her a sincere smile. "Nah."

She beamed back and moved up between them, putting her arms around their shoulders.

"Oh, you guys. I missed you both so much before. I'm so glad we're together again."

"The way it should be," 9 agreed, kissing her cheek.

"And we never have to be apart again. That's exciting," 5 concluded, wondering why he had felt so mad at them before. It seemed silly now.

Suddenly, 7 stumbled a little and fell on one knee, sort of dragging them with her. She caught herself quickly, but awkwardly. Not true to form at all.

"Whoa, are you okay?" 9 asked at once, helping her back up.

"I'm fine, I just tripped," she answered, waving him away. "Could've happened to anybody." Despite her protest, she blinked several times and raised her hand to her temple.

"Are you sure? You look dizzy," 5 pointed out, feeling deep in his gut that something wasn't right.

"Just stood up too fast. It's all your fault, 9," she teased, shoving him a little, trying to make light of what had happened. He looked more concerned than amused.

They both stepped back a bit, giving her some space to collect herself again. She stood still, taking deep breaths and gently massaging her temple, trying to clear the spots from her vision. Instead, she cleared her throat harshly and winced.

"Ow…"

"Honey, you should sit down," 9 insisted sternly, helping her to the nearest flat surface he could see.

"Maybe I should," she agreed vaguely, letting him help her down. She went on taking deep breaths, as deep as she could, but to no avail. She suddenly doubled over a little, clutching her stomach, and her hand flew over her mouth.

"I don't feel good…"

"Time to go home," 9 decided, taking her in his arms and hauling her to her feet. "Do you think you can walk?"

"Maybe…" she mumbled, leaning heavily against him. "Mostly, I just want to lie down."

"We haven't gone far," he comforted. "We'll be back home in no time, and you'll be just fine."

"Uh-huh…"

9 and 5 tried to set a fast pace, to get her back to the library as soon as they could, but 7 was struggling to get one foot in front of the other. In fact, they found themselves dragging her most of the way. 5 hoped that just this one time, 2 was distracted enough to not notice them going back. If he realized that one of them wasn't feeling right, he would naturally freak out and worry too much about it. He always did.

But, of course, 2 noticed at once.

"Where are the three of you going?" he asked, looking up from another finding, and then frowning. "What's the matter with 7? What's going on?"

"She isn't feeling well, but it's probably nothing," 9 insisted, trying not to let the old man worry. "She just needs to lie down for a bit."

As if to prove him wrong, she swayed like a ship and gripped his arm feebly to steady herself.

"I'm going to faint…"

Her eyes slid shut and she pitched forward into her husband's arms. At first, 5 was painfully worried about his sister. But he noticed, as 9 gathered her up and stood to carry her home, how his brother didn't seem worried at all. Concerned, but.. Calm. Almost as if he had braced himself for this. What id he know that everyone else didn't?

As they hurried back to the library, 2 ran alongside them. "It sure doesn't seem like nothing," he commented.

"I know, I know. 2, do you think it could be…?"

They exchanged a knowing, wondrous look, but the thought was never finished.

"Think it could be what?" 5 asked, feeling left out.

"We'll explain it all when we know for sure," 2 answered resolutely. "Until then, don't think too much about it."


	4. Possibility

Today, we get an anatomy lesson. And raging Stitchpunk hormones of various stripes.

Also, I should have made it clearer in the previous chapter; but 7 and 9 have adopted the twins as their children, just like in all my other stories. (This will surely make for hilarity and cuteness down the road.)We're still technically following _The Other Eyes Saga_ canon, if it helps. Hopefully, I've made up for not clarifying that by emphasizing it in this chapter.

Cuz we ALL know what's about to happen. ;)

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_Possibility_

2222222222

7 felt consciousness come back over her, though she couldn't guess how long she had been out. But she could feel her bed beneath her, the hand-stitched blanket soft and warm against her back She stirred and opened her eyes a little. To her joy and relief, 9 was the first thing she saw. He was sitting beside her, holding her hand solidly, with a magnificent smile on his face.

"Ah, there you are," he said gently, caressing her face. "You scare me to death sometimes."

With a short, apologetic laugh, she sat up a little and propped herself up on her elbows. "I felt so terrible," she said, rubbing the side of her head. "What happened to me back there?"

On the other side of the room, they heard someone laugh jovially; she turned to look and found that 2 was with them—and so was the book, propped up against the wall so he could read from it.

"Nothing incredibly terrible happened at all," he announced, closing the book and coming to sit on the other side of the bed. "Rather normal, I've discovered, actually."

7 didn't like _Annuls of Paracelsus_ on the best of days; but it was their primary medical text. Having it so close made her worry. "Is it serious?" she asked, glancing warily at the book.

"Er… Hm, _serious_ is a relative term, at this point," 2 answered thoughtfully, remaining very vague.

"I don't understand. Am I hurt or not? Am I dying? Just tell me!"

He was being absolutely no help at all. 9 gently took her face in one hand and turned her gaze back to him.

"7, honey, what he's trying to say is…" His smile suddenly broadened. "…You're pregnant!"

She looked back at him, dumbfounded and silent for a long moment. She couldn't believe it. Not that this was a bad thing—it was wonderful, and she was prepared to leap out of bed and jump for sheer joy. It was just… What? It was even possible? She had long suspected that it might be; but they were so inorganic, she hadn't imagined that such a thing could actually happen.

"…R-_Really?_" she stammered, not sure what else there was to say, given her disbelief. To this, 9 silently nodded his head, eyes bright with tears of joy that he couldn't physically cry. The look on his face was enough—who cared how it had happened, or how possible it had seemed from a distance. They were going to be parents! She was entirely too thrilled to be doubtful anymore. With a squeal of delight, she threw his arms around him.

"It doesn't seem like it should be real," she laughed as he hugged her back.

"It is," he answered, kissing her face. "It is."

2 suddenly stood up and headed for the door. "I'll leave you both to talk things over," he said over his shoulder with a triumphant smile of his own. With a wink he added, "Surely, mommy has a lot of questions."

He walked out and shut the door firmly behind him, chuckling happily as he did so. 7 imagined he must be at least as excited as she was—if his only daughter was going to be a mother, he was going to be a grandfather. She wondered vaguely if human fathers had felt the same, before…

As soon as he was gone, there was no reason to help herself anymore. She pulled her 9 close and gave him a long, passionate kiss. She couldn't think of another way to express how strongly she felt about him, or their baby, or anything else.

"You had me worried again," he remarked. "You looked so concerned, I was afraid you didn't approve."

"Me? Not approve?" she asked incredulously. "How could—I'm going to be a mother! This is wonderful! How is this even possible?"

"Well—"

"No, wait, stop; don't bother answering that, I don't even want to know all that book-stuff right now. For right now… Let it just be magic."

"Alright," he agreed, kissing her eye rim. "It's magic. It's nothing short of a miracle."

Her sheer excitement died down a little bit, and she realized that 2 had been right—even if she didn't care to know the technical junk, there were a million things she wanted to know about… Well, _being_ _pregnant._

"So, how long?" she asked.

"About three months, all told," 9 answered evenly, always happy to answer her questions. "See, it's kind of like human pregnancy, but it's also different. In humans, a whole little body with a soul already in it begins growing in the woman's womb. But we all know you don't have one of those…"

"How, then?"

"Without being too technical?"

"…"

"Well… You were built with an extra piece that the rest of us don't have—it works _sort of_ like a human womb, except it can't grow the baby's body." He reverently placed his hand against her belly and paused, feeling the warmth radiating from within. "Instead, it's growing the baby's soul."

Wow. That was… Big. Very big. Unsure what else to think of that presently, 7 placed her hand over his, and distracted herself with another obvious question.

"What about the body, then?"

9 sighed a bit and gazed off into space, looking just a little daunted.

"I have to build it, myself…"

That was an equally big thing for him, and clearly a lot of pressure. 7 considered their different duties to their unborn child. While she merely had to sit still and allow the tiny soul to grow and gestate, he had the responsibility of constructing a suitable vessel for it. Their design—full of complex technology and detailed nuance—was far from simple, not to be thrown together quickly, or with substandard materials. And there were only three months to complete the body.

That was a lot of pressure, indeed. She chose a more lighthearted question.

"Do we know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" she asked hopefully.

9 relaxed and gave her a gentle smile. "There's really no way to tell for sure, until the baby is born. I'm still not sure what decides that, but we're looking in on it."

"Then how are we supposed to build the body, if we don't know who we're building it for?"

"2 says it's better, for now, if we designed it to be androgynous—most of us are, in the first place. 7, did you say 'we'?"

"Of course. You didn't think I'd leave you to do this alone, did you?"

"But you hate building things."

"I know, but this is different."

"It's going to mean _a lot_ of bookwork. Like, _Paracelsus_ bookwork. You hate that book."

"Yeah," she sighed, staring with contempt at the tome, propped up against their wall. "…But this is different," she repeated. "This is my baby, and I want to at least help design its body. Human mothers never got to choose what their babies looked like—if I get that choice, I'm going to take it."

"That's kind of a relief. When I realized I'd have to build the body for my baby, I wasn't really worried about it… But I didn't know how to start. I'm glad you'll have some ideas, because I don't, really."

7 closed her eyes and let her imagination take over for a change. "I can see it clearly—the best of both of us."

"That is beautiful," he said quietly, snuggling her close. "Simply beautiful."

2222222222

5 had been pacing alone in the common room for what seemed like ages, lost in thought. Lots of things 2 had said recently—little, insignificant things that he had told everyone to forget about—suddenly made perfect sense. Had he been walking around, feeling just as wry about the marriage as his son had, knowing something deep and strange that everyone else wasn't in on? For 5, it had been his unexpected and overwhelming jealousy. For 2, it turned out he had been counting on 7 to turn up pregnant, eventually.

It seemed like a very personal thing to be waiting on the edge of your seat for. But given that he was holding onto something much darker—and didn't intend on letting it out any time soon—5 supposed there were worse things to watch for.

In the meantime, he wasn't sure what to do with himself. He was happy for his brother and sister, of course… But he felt very strange, still caught between being proud of them and furious with them for daring to so happy while he was so miserable. When 2 had first proposed the idea, 5 had thought it sounded ridiculous. But 9 had jumped up and begun stalking back and forth and flailing his arms around, coming close to hyperventilating, overstimulated by a surge of various emotions.

Watching 9 nearly lose his mind like that, 5 realized that this wasn't a joke. Somehow, it was _totally_ possible for Stitchpunks to conceive and bear children, and it had _totally_ happened to his sister. He also realized, with a bit of a start, that 9 had been expecting this, as well.

"How did you know all this?" 5 had asked them.

"I read," 9 and 2 answered at the same time.

Oh yes, they had both studied _Annuls of Paracelsus_; 2 had been curious, and 9 had been on a quest, and so they had both read and understood most of the book. Their anatomy and the science of their souls was like an entirely different language to most of them; they were extremely lucky that not one, but two of their number spoke it. 5 didn't speak a word of that language. He tried to keep up and be useful when they prattled on and on about it…

But mostly, he just ended up feeling every inch the foolish little boy that 1 always accused him of being. Feeling useless, indeed, and very left out, he had retreated to the common room to give 9 some space. And also to think.

He had only been alone for half an hour before the rest of the clan reappeared and accosted him, each drilling him at the same time for answers. Everyone wanted to know what had happened, why 7 had fainted, if she was okay, and many other things that he couldn't make out over the noise. Even 1 looked truly concerned, though he thankfully did not contribute much to the ruckus. Finally, though, 5 had had enough of it.

"Hush—all of you be quiet!" he yelled over them, hoping he was loud enough to be heard. His two brothers and adopted niece and nephew quieted as abruptly as they had appeared, snapping their mouths shut to listen to him. Attempting to pretend that he wasn't _really_ concerned, 1 stood apart from the rest of them and leaned against the wall, silently waiting for an explanation.

"So, what has happened?" the old man pressed after a pause lasted a little too long.

"_Mama __is__ okay, isn't she?"_ 4 flickered nervously.

"Yes, 7 is perfectly fine now," he answered, marveling at the little girl as she and her twins sighed, relieved, at the same time. 7 had always been like their mother—raising them, protecting them, and loving them with a fierce and unique type of love she didn't have for the rest of them. It had been speculated but never proven that being their mother had been her original purpose, since their creator hadn't left them a real guardian or parental figure. And 9 loved them as well, with that same unique love that a parent ought to have for his children. What would their little household do now, with a baby on the way? How would the twins react to hearing they would have a little brother or sister?

He also noticed with a twinge that it was 6's hand—not 3's—that 4 clutched in her own for comfort and reassurance. 5 had always suspected they were crushing on each other. Even though she appeared very young and he appeared much older, she was too smart and he was a little slow, so they ended up on marvelously level ground. And he had to admit, they made an adorable couple.

He stifled an aggravated and inappropriate groan. Even the kids were cashing in on this romance-thing, and he was _still_ all alone!

"_So, what happened back there?"_ 3 asked when 5 paused for too long again.

"Well, there's been a slight complication…" he started, not sure how to get the necessary words out. "Complication" hadn't been the best word to lead with; they all looked extremely worried again.

"The girl won't die, will she?" 1 clarified, sharing their concern, in spite of himself.

"Oh no—no, no, no, no, no—it's nothing like that," he insisted, waving his hands for emphasis. "It's just… I'm not sure how to say this. This is… It's pretty big."

Several slightly less concerned looks were exchanged as they processed this.

"Well, out with it, then," 1 insisted sharply. "We haven't got all day, boy."

As he spoke, 2 appeared in the doorway and assessed the situation. At first, 5 was relieved. Surely his father would swoop in and take hold of things, in his kindly, knowledgeable way. However, he instead gave his son an exasperated gesture, as if to say, "Go on! Spit it out, already!"

5 gulped hard, flustered and a little terrified. He felt like he had been thrown headlong into the ocean without a life vest or a floatation device.

"Well, uh, you see, um, the thing is, it's, uh, it's, I, uh…"

2 gave him another silent gesture, telling him to calm down and just tell them. How hard did this really have to be? It was only three words—two, with a simple contraction. But they carried so much gravitas, they felt like lead in his mouth. 5 took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh, willing the words out.

"…7's pregnant."

Another pause passed as the heavy words sunk into his family. Each of their expressions slowly changed as it hit them. 8 and 6 exchanged a silent, nervous but optimistic smile, neither sure how to feel, exactly. The twins both grinned hugely and jumped up to hug each other victoriously—the prospect of a younger sibling didn't bother them in the slightest. On the other side of the room, 1 let his face sink wearily, fearfully into his hand.

"Oh please, no," he muttered. "If there is a God in heaven, _please_, no…"

2 chuckled and leaned against the doorway. "What's the matter, 1? Aren't you excited?" he teased. His brother jumped at the sound of his voice.

"What the—! When did you get there? How has this happened?"

"Well, you see, when a man and a woman love each other _very _much—"

"Stop it! I hate you!"

Oblivious to their grandfathers bickering again, the twins released one another and glommed onto 5 instead.

"_I can't believe it! Mama's really having a baby!"_

"_I'm gonna be a big sister! This is so great!"_

"_Great? This is better than just great, sis—it's __amazing__!"_

"_5, can we go see them? __Please__?"_

As if they needed permission to see their own parents at such a time. They were so earnest and happy, and it melted away his various apprehensions in an instant. He smiled and nodded his blessing.

"Don't forget to knock before barging in," he cautioned them. They beamed back at him once more, and then vanished like shadows. Now that they were gone, 6 stepped forward for his turn to ask questions. He was always so brutally insightful. 5 was suddenly nervous of what his youngest brother had to say.

"9 and 7 will be parents. That will be… Hard," he reasoned slowly.

"Yeah, I suppose it will be hard for them."

"What about us?"

That could have meant a couple of things. "What do you mean, 'us'?"

"_Us_," 6 repeated, glancing briefly over the room for emphasis. He meant everyone else in the clan who _wasn't_ expecting a child. 7 and 9 knew what they were to do—for the next few months, their whole focus was to their baby. But what were the rest of them to do about it? Should they offer to help? Should they leave their brother and sister to deal with everything themselves? What _were_ the other seven of them expected to do now? What was the protocol? What boundaries were there to be watched for?

5 could appreciate that his brother summed up so many questions in such a neat package; it was another of his many hidden talents. But he regretted that he couldn't begin to answer it. He still wasn't sure what to do with himself, next. It was irritating enough for him; he couldn't fathom how it bothered 6. Even if he never particularly followed the status quo or any accepted protocol, 6 liked to know what it was. Having structure and rules to follow had always made him feel safer, even if he ignored it most of the time.

"I think you should talk to 2 about that," he decided, turning his brother around and steering him toward their father. Without even looking back, he went right to him, intent on answers he desperately needed. 2 put his arm around 6's shoulders and led him out of the room.

"Come on, my boy. We'll talk things out together, okay?"

"Okay…"

That left 5 alone with 1 and 8. Experience had always proven that that was a _terrible_ place to be, and every instinct he had urged him to get out as quickly as possible. But before he could leave, 1 moved away from the wall and came to stand by him.

"So…," he said stiffly, "have you _any_ clue what happens next?"

5 shook his head. "I think they'll set the pace, from here on. It's their baby, after all."

"Their baby," 1 mused, pressing the corner of his palm into his temple. "I am _not_ thrilled with the idea of a mini-7 running around, making messes and hitting things and being _just_ like her mother, in general. Nor am I thrilled with the idea of a mini-9 running around, asking questions and getting into soul-related trouble and being just like his _father_, in general."

5 was silent, but he secretly agreed that the idea was daunting. Either parent alone could be an overwhelming presence. Mix them both together in a vat, and the result could be... Who knew what?

"However," 1 continued with a short sigh, "if something _had_ to go wrong, I'm glad it was only…this. I stand by what I said last night, all this marriage business would never suit me. But I suppose it suits them quite well. Nothing's really gone _wrong_ yet, has it?"

"It's… Just another change," 5 supplied.

"And change can be… good, sometimes…"

That was far beyond the inside of unusual. Was 1 being… optimistic? 5 glanced over at 8, who had remained silent the whole time, content to quietly observe everything. What did he think of all this? When he noticed 5 looking at him, he just shrugged unhelpfully. Perhaps the giant felt just as clunky and in the way as 5 did. Or maybe he was lucky enough to not really have an opinion on anything that had just happened.

So that was that. At some point during the ensuing winter, 7 was going to have a child. The first child born to the clan. That was exciting—it was his sister, after all, and he was going to be an uncle. That was a lot of responsibility, he supposed. Perhaps it would be enough to distract him and take the edge off his seething jealousy.

_Now we've _got_ to get this generator going,_ he thought, feeling mightily empowered. _It's going to be a long, cold winter; and this baby will _not_ be born into a drafty home. Not if uncle 5 has anything to say about it._

_Uncle 5… I rather like the sound of that._

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A/N...

So munch Italics... What can I say? It helps get the point across. If Christopher Plummer and John C. Reilly ever get a hold of this story, I'd like them to hear their lines EXACTLY as they read. I want them to be all like, "**_DAMN_**, that Freida is good!"

That would be like a dream come true...! 8D

By the way-that movie, /Wreck-It Ralph/, from the /Brave/ previews? Yeah... Ralph is totally voiced by 5. (Yeah, I mean 5. If it's not live-action, it's not John C. Reilly, it's 5.) Who else wishes it was November RIGHT NOW?


	5. Interior Design

With great pregnancy comes great moodiness. A bit of a longer chapter today, because 7 is too adorably out of whack to glance over.

Also, I blame the title of this chapter on my Tuesday night class. :P

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_Interior Design_

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Three months. That meant 12 weeks, or 84 days. 7 had hoped that calculating the time she had left would make it seem more substantial than it was. Three months wasn't a whole lot of time to carry her baby's soul in safety; surprisingly, 84 days didn't make the time seem any vaster. She had already spent several of those days in quiet contemplation, trying to get a grip on the facts. Her life had already changed so much; it had turned upside down and changed completely, yet again. And when the child was born, there would be more changes.

She now had a solid 73 days left, give or take. On the evening of the eleventh day, she sat alone in her bed with a pen and some paper, waiting for her husband to return from the ruins. On the floor beside the bed, she had a neat stack of other, completed drawings—amateur sketches of her child's body, and what it might look like. The shape was consistent, roundish and sort of stumpy, a fraction of the size of an adult, and quite adorable. The soft, chubby shapes reminded her lovingly of 9. That made it hard for her to stop smiling to herself as she worked.

It was the materials that changed from sketch to sketch, and how they were placed. From the beginning, she had seen a certain design in her head, of tough burlap and sturdy canvas together as one. Her first drawings had been projections of her first, rather sloppy ideas. But this was the fifteenth sketch she had done, and it had almost come together. As she finished this latest design, she sat back and gazed with pride and wonder at her work.

This was it. This was the one. She was sure of it. She couldn't wait for 9 to get back, so she could show him.

It wasn't long before he came back, with his pack full of findings he had gathered for the baby. Even if the designs weren't complete, he could still prepare the metal frame and the wiring. He had been gone most of the afternoon, on a new mission to gather what he needed. 7 had offered to help him, but he had insisted on her staying behind.

"But you'll be gone all day without help," she had pointed out. "And it's gotten colder out these past few days. Let me help you."

"5 offered to help me. We'll be alright," 9 had insisted. "You just stay here and take care of yourself."

At first she had been miffed. It wasn't like having a baby suddenly rendered her unable to take care of herself. But then she remembered—the little soul was sapping her energy, using it to get bigger and stronger, itself. She didn't ultimately mind lending her child her own strength, but she was glad that she hadn't been out with 5 and 9, after all. Even eleven days into her pregnancy, terrible fatigue seemed to smack her in the face every afternoon around one o'clock.

Of course he would have known it would happen. He had read the book, and knew all the technical junk that bored her to death. She had laughed at herself, as she had sat down to draw that afternoon. One of these days, surely she would learn how to just listen to him. One of these days…

But for now, her 9 was home from what looked like a successful search. He deposited his pack in the corner, and looked back to her with his usual, wonderful smile.

"It's not that cold out," he said with a goofy shrug, and sat down beside her. She set her pen and paper aside and snuggled into his arms. "I've had a good day. How about you?"

She sighed contentedly, resting her head on his chest. "It feels like I've gotten a lot done today."

"How are you feeling?"

"A little tired. This monster of ours is eating all my energy."

9 nodded his head thoughtfully, recalling what he knew. "Good… That's good. That means the soul is getting stronger. It's becoming less fragile, and more stable."

"Shouldn't I be getting bigger?"

"In a week or two. It's only been a week, after all."

Huh. When he said it like that, 12 weeks suddenly did seem like a long time. She wanted to reach for her final sketch, but she was too content and suddenly too sluggish to lean over and get it. She wrapped her arms around his waist, cuddling closer, as he held her safe and warm. For a long, lovely moment, she was silent, enjoying the sound and the feel of his heartbeat against her cheek.

"9, if I had a human name, what do you think it would be?"

He leaned his back, staring at the ceiling as he thought for a moment.

"…Victoria," he mused. "Or maybe Elizabeth? Or… Stella? Luna…?"

After a moment of deliberation, he finally nodded vaguely. "No, it's Luna. Definitely Luna."

"How come?"

"Because you're so beautiful and pale, just like the moon. You're the light in a world of darkness, hope in the dead of night, all soft and silvery.."

She sighed dreamily as she let his words sink into her skin. She hoped the soul inside her was absorbing this.

"And you drive me crazy," he concluded. She couldn't help but laugh lightly at that. Suppose she really _was_ a piece of the moon?

"Alexander."

"…Hm?"

"Alexander," she repeated, sitting a little in his arms, so she could see him. "It means 'defender of mankind'. I was the name of a great, ancient king. It's a good name for you, don't you think?"

Understanding completely, he simply smiled his agreement and held her closer, kissing her gently between her eyes.

"We still need to name our child," she pointed out.

"I know," he sighed, resting his head atop hers. "5 and I talked a lot about that today. Do you have any ideas?"

"It sounds like you have more."

"I'm torn between 10, and a combination of our own names. They both seem appropriate. I mean, 79 for a girl, and 97 for a boy, and all."

7 shook her head a little. "I don't want this child thinking it _must_ become like us, just because of its name. The body will already be made of a combination of us, and the soul is one-of-a-kind. The name should be original."

"Oh, I meant to ask—did you finish the design?"

"I did. It's right here," she answered, stretching awkwardly to try and reach the paper behind her. When she failed, 9 grabbed it himself and held it up so they could both see. The final draft was nothing short of simple and utterly sweet. The child's legs and chest were burlap, while its arms, back, and head were white canvas. It could have been male or female—there was really no way to tell.

"I had thought brown thread for the stitching," she continued, pointing to a seam on the colorless drawing, "or even red, if it seems suitable."

"And for the catch?"

"I asked dad about it earlier, and he said not to hurt my head over it. The soul will outgrow the body too fast for something so permanent to matter. He suggested we think about that when the soul is stable to keep a body for a few years. And then the child can have a say in it, as well."

Even though she couldn't see it, she felt 9 smiling at her. In the past couple of days, she had taken to calling 2 her "dad", or even "daddy", instead of by name. She wasn't sure why she was doing this, herself. But it made her feel very happy and snuggly inside; and the baby certainly didn't have a problem with it. In fact, it seemed like it expanded slightly, feeling her feelings right along with her.

She reached up and ran her fingers over the finished drawing of her child, and she sighed happily. "I really like 10," she commented. "It's traditional, but not _too_ traditional. The child will know that it comes next, you know? It's opening up a whole new set of numbers, a new chapter in our history. And it's all up to him, or her, to make a life and a destiny out of that. It's everything I could ever hope for, for my own child."

"We could call it Dix, or Dixie, as a nickname. While 5 and I were talking about it, he said _dix_ is French for 10. He thought that might help us."

"That's adorable," she agreed. "I like that."

9 was silent for a moment, contemplating her work, and then the wall in front of their bed, where his worktable was.

"I'm going to put this up on the wall, right over the worktable," he announced. "That way, every morning when I wake up, our 10 will be the next thing I see—right after you."

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The weeks continued to march toward winter. It was now November, and light snows had already blanketed the city. But it wasn't deep enough to keep 9 inside. Not while 10 still needed a body, and he still needed building materials. And every day when he went out, 5 was glad to accompany him. They both enjoyed the time together, doing what they did best as brothers.

Even when the snow started falling, 2 usually went with them, as well. Surprisingly, 1 and 8 also joined them, on most days. Being the biggest and the thickest, 8 didn't mind the cold as the rest of them did; he seemed to enjoy the snow immensely. And 1 seemed… almost enchanted by it.

"He used to speak fondly of snow, in the wintertime," 5 recalled. "He was born in January, in the last year that it snowed; he and 2 were both lucky enough to see it, before it melted for the year. They always missed it… The rest of us were always sad that we hadn't gotten a chance to see it."

"They seem to be getting along better and better, these days," 9 commented, tossing a small rock to 5. It had become a silly thing they did, strictly between brothers, as they walked and talked. Whoever had the rock had a turn to speak until he tossed it back. The unspoken rule was that the other wasn't allowed to interrupt until it was his turn again.

"They were brothers, as well, once upon a time," 5 explained. "But things were… difficult." Without much more to say about it presently, he tossed the rock back. 9 caught it, and then knelt to examine something on the ground.

"I wish it was easier to find metal poles, for the framework," he grumbled. "All this snow… We have to hurry. When it starts getting really deep in December, finding what we need is going to be next to impossible."

"How's 7 been, these past few days?" 5 asked, abandoning their ritual.

"Oh, well enough," 9 answered with a tired sigh. "She's changing again, like I knew she would…"

"What do you mean?"

"It happened with human women as well, when they carried children. The body spends a lot of energy rearranging itself, to accommodate the baby. It changes the chemical balance of the body, as well. Humans called them hormones, I think; I'm not sure what they would be called in us, exactly. Either way, it makes the mother's temper very, um… short."

"7's always had a short temper."

"Not like this. She's been so moody, lately. The smallest things can set her off. One second, she'll be perfectly fine; the next, she'll be screaming at me for no reason; the next, she'll be crying on the floor, wondering what's wrong with her. _I_ know what's wrong, and I wish she would let me explain it all. She'd feel so much better, if she would just let me help her understand, but she still wants nothing to do with that damn book."

It was a real problem that he had braced himself to face, but had been a little afraid to see in person. Seeing his beloved wife so out of sorts wounded him, and there was almost nothing he could do to soothe her. But as he thought of her, he smiled.

"All the same—she's still the proud, stubborn 7 I fell in love with in the first place. I can be patient with her. It's what I'm here for."

5 smiled absently, looking off at nothing in particular. "You're both so lucky to have each other. I wish I knew what that was like…"

9 wished that for his brother, as well. He hoped that one day, he would have the chance to love someone as much as he loved his wife. But there was something strange in the way 5 had spoken. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something… odd. There had been for several weeks, now, in fact. He had wondered about it silence, unwilling to discuss it with 7, in the state she was in. But this had carried on for far too long, in 9's opinion.

"5, are you alright?"

5 looked back at him, snapped back to reality. "What do you mean?"

"You haven't been yourself, these past few weeks. Is something wrong?"

His eye shifted back and forth, as if startled and looking for an escape route. But it passed, and he shook his head with a goofy smile.

"Nah, it's nothing," he answered, adjusting his pack and starting off again. "Come on, let's finish up this errand and get back home. It's getting pretty cold out."

9 agreed with that, and rose to follow his brother. But he wasn't convinced that _nothing_ was bothering him.

"Are you sure you're alright? You know you can tell me."

"Don't worry about it," 5 insisted, still smiling like his good old self. "I'm fine."

9 decided not to press any further, and leave his brother his privacy. It was better in this moment to humor him, than to pester him. But secretly, it hurt him.

_I know, I know. You don't have to tell me about your problems, if you don't want to. Because… _I'm_ the problem. Aren't I?_

"So, about this snow," he said instead, "you clearly know more about it than I do." He tossed the rock back to 5.

"Tell me more. I'm fascinated."

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Later that day, they all returned to the library to find their quarters very warm, indeed. 2's steam-powered generator was working its magic. They could all appreciate it, but 9 felt a special gratitude toward it. As long as it was keeping their home cozy and warm, he felt safe leaving his wife alone here while he was out. Even with the twins keeping her company and 6 guarding them like a watchdog, he didn't know if he could have stood leaving her—or any of them—in the chilly, drafty building with nothing to keep them warm.

When they entered the common space, they were all slightly surprised to find it occupied. The twins had taken out a chess set they had made, and 6 was watching their game with rapt attention. Only 4's lone rook and 3's king remained on the board, playing ring-around-the rosy for the title.

"_Oh, you're all back,"_ 4 noted with a smile.

"_Just in time for the grand finale,"_ 3 added. _"I'm __so__ about to win this game!"_

"_I don't think so!"_

But 7 wasn't around. That didn't bode well.

"Where's your mother?" 9 asked the twins, setting his pack on the floor. At this, all three of their faces fell.

"_She's acting all chipper and silly-happy again,"_ 3 answered.

"_And we all know what __that__ means,"_ 4 added.

"_We got the heck out of there before she snaps."_

"_I sure don't want to be the one to set her off today."_

9 sighed slowly and rubbed his neck, not liking what was going to happen next. "I suppose it's my turn to be on her bad side then…"

"Don't go in there," 6 begged quietly. "She's crazy."

"She's not crazy, she's pregnant," 9 corrected bravely. "I'll go look in on her. I might be gone awhile."

"_We'll make sure 1 doesn't ruin your funeral, dad,"_ 3 offered flatly.

9 smiled back, kind of pleased that the twins were calling him their dad, these days. "Don't worry, I'll be back. I just don't know when."

Without stopping to hear their warnings or protests, he walked off down toward his bedroom, feeling like he was marching off to battle again.

He opened the door to the bedroom to find 7 pacing anxiously, her hands on her hips, looking like she had already snapped and gone into a rage. When she saw him, she stopped short and stared back at him with a wild, manic glint in her eyes. At first glance, he had to admit to himself that it was kind of sexy… But it wasn't her.

"I'm home," he greeted with a cheery smile.

All of a sudden, she had stormed across the room and into his face, an accusing finger stuck in his chest.

"You've been gone for too long," she snapped, a furious glare on her face. "What are you doing out there all day? Hiding from me?"

He threw his hands up, hoping she would calm down. "I could never hide from you. And I'm home now."

To his relief, she backed off and her anger suddenly subsided. So suddenly, the furious glare was replaced with an uncharacteristically bright smile.

"I've been waiting for you to come home. I made you something," she said, walking back to the bed. She picked up a long swatch of dark green cloth draped over the blanket and held it up for him to see. It was a coat.

"I thought you could wear it in the snow, so you won't be too cold," she explained, shoving it a little too eagerly into his arms.

"Oh, 7, it's wonderful," he answered, giving her a warm, thankful hug. Maybe he had missed most of the rage, after all. She felt bigger, fuller in his arms, as the baby soul had begun to fill out her shapely form. Not enough to keep them too far apart, but it was happening. It seemed that with every week that passed, they both grew a little more. And while it warmed his heart, it stood testament to how unstable she had become.

She stepped back a bit, clasping her hands excitedly. "Try it on! I've been waiting all day!"

Not to deny his pregnant wife, he slipped to coat over his arms. The hem reached almost to his toes, and it was warm and soft. He felt like he was still wrapped in her embrace. This would keep him warm in the snow, for sure. It was perfect.

Except the sleeves didn't quite reach his wrists.

"I think the sleeves are hemmed a little short," he commented with a chuckle—which he instantly regretted.

_Oh, crap in a bucket…_

"You don't like it," she guessed, sounding deeply insulted.

"No, no, that's not—"

"You never like _anything _I do!" she yelled, pushing hard. "Nothing I do is _ever_ good enough for you, is?"

"7, that isn't true," he insisted, even though he knew it was useless. She stomped to the worktable and snatched up an older sketch of 10's design.

"And this—none of this was ever good enough for you either was it?" She crumpled it up and threw it as hard as she could at his head, snatching another sketch to replace it. "I bet you think you could have done _so_ much better without me, don't you!"

"7, no, please!"

"Stop telling me what to do!" she screamed, jumping at him with her fists raised.

With a speed that he didn't know he was capable of, he caught her by the wrists before she could hit him. He had never had to face her amazing strength like this, and it alarmed him; he was glad that he wasn't a lightweight, himself. He found himself grappling against her, trying to keep her from hurting him. It was totally ridiculous, and he wasn't going to stand for it. He locked her gaze with his own, hoping that he could break through and reach her real self.

"7, stop this! You listen to me," he pleased. "Listen to me! This isn't really you! Snap out of it! Let it go!"

"_You_ let go of _me_!" she snarled back, breaking free of his grip and stumbling back to the desk. "You can take all of this and just—"

With a battle cry, she flung everything off the desk in a single swipe. Findings and tools clattered to the floor, and neat stacks of their designs flew everywhere like a storm. It looked like a tornado had blown through their bedroom. 7 fell heavily against the desk, breathing heavily from the outburst that seemed to have drained all her energy.

The next thing he knew, she had fallen to her knees and begun to weep uncontrollably.

"I'm so tired of this _thing_ inside me, messing with my head!" she wailed into her hands. "I want it out! I want it _out_!"

The angry phase was over. Once her mood swung to misery, it was easier to reach her. As he regarded her, dissolving into a puddle on their floor, 9 was suddenly too overcome with compassion to move. He could never truly be angry with her; especially not when she wasn't really angry at him in the first place. He sat down beside her and gently pulled her into his lap, holding her steady and close as she buried her face in his shoulder and went on crying. He began to slowly rock her back and forth—an unusual gesture, but one of the only things that seemed to soothe her anymore—and whispered comforts in her ear. It was alright. There was no reason to cry anymore. Her 9 was there to keep her safe. Everything was going to be okay.

After a few minutes, her sobs subsided into deep, shaking breaths. She felt limp, heavy, and tired in his arms. She slowly reached up and rested her hand on his shoulder, thoughtfully stroking his fabric with her thumb.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I… I don't know what happened to me."

"It's okay," he answered gently, feeling nothing but patience. "It happens. I just wish there was more I could do for you."

She sighed deeply, cuddling closer and nuzzling his neck as she said, "If only you could stay here and rock me like this all day. It's so… comforting. It's the only thing that makes me feel like myself anymore."

"If only I could," he agreed, admiring her with a loving smile. Then, out of the blue, he got a great idea.

_Maybe I _can_… _

"Trust me, love," he said, kissing the top of her head, "you're going to be just fine."

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There were only 63 days left. December was less than a week away, and the snow was piling up. Each day, 7 watched as her husband and brother went out into the snow to find the last few pieces they needed for 10. And each day, she found herself more content to stay inside, keeping the soul of her child safe while it devoured all her energy. Mostly, all she wanted to do was sleep, recover enough to sit upright before the soul decided to feed again.

When she found herself and the baby at rest at the same time, she would pass the time by talking to it. Juts lying still on the bed, talking to it about whatever came to mind. And on day 21, she found herself doing just that. She was alone, mostly; the twins had gone to the common room to wait for the others, and 6 had joined them not too long thereafter. As she gently ran her hands over her swelling belly, she began to talk about whatever came to mind. Anything she thought the baby soul might find interesting, even though she knew it couldn't physically hear her.

"Your daddy will be done with your body, soon. He said he only needs a few more things; he can find them today, before the first blizzard rolls in. I hope he's alright out there, in all that snow… You know, 10, I had never seen snow until this year. I had always wondered what it was like, though. I'm really glad you won't have to wait a whole lifetime to see it. And not too long after you're born, it'll be springtime. It's going to be green and beautiful again, for the first time in my whole life. You're just going to love it all, 10.

"Oh, 10… I can't wait to meet you. And neither can your father—but he hopes you'll call him 'daddy'." She laughed softly. "You know who else can't wait to meet you? Your granddad. Both of them, actually. Wait… Actually…"

She stopped herself and did a quick figure in her head. "Well, 2 raised me, so he's _like_ my father; but 1 is his brother, so he's technically your great-uncle, not your grandfather… But don't you worry about that, my little love. You just call him your grandfather. 2 will like being 'granddad', I think; it sounds snuggly, just like him. But I don't know what 1 would want you to call him—something much more dignified, probably. I'm sure you'll sort it out, eventually.

"You can call 3 and 4 by name, most of the time. They're your big brother and sister; and they're going to take good care of you. They have so much they want to share with you. There are so many things you can learn from them. If you've inherited your father's marvelous brain, you'll probably soak it all up faster than they can teach you.

"As for my brothers, well, they're your uncles. 6 and 8 probably wouldn't mind it if you called them by name. They don't really do much, but they are here for you, and they love you, just like the rest of us. I'm not sure what 5 will want you to call him; but I'd like you to call him your uncle, anyway. It just seems proper to me. We've been through so much together… And I suspect we'll be through a lot more, eventually…"

She thought of talking about the body some more, describing the little details she and 9 had planned. But before she could continue, two dark heads appeared in the door, interrupting her thoughts.

"We're home!' the brothers chorused, looking incredibly pleased about something. 7 laughed, pleased, herself, to see them, and sat up straight.

"I was just talking about you," she said with a smile, and patted her belly. "10 likes hearing about you. You're both home early today, aren't you?"

"We didn't need long," 5 informed her. "We've been on, kind of a side quest all day."

"Did you win?" she asked.

"Yep," 9 agreed proudly. "We made you something."

"Really?"

"Certainly. You made me this," he pointed out, showing off his long green coat. Since he had taken the sleeves out, she had to admit that it suited him better.

"Well, what is it?" she asked, feeling 10 flutter with her excitement.

"It's a surprise," 5 insisted. "You have to close your eyes first, while we go get it."

"Oh, _that's_ how it is," she answered, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. It felt good to move a little. 5 smiled back, glad that she was being cooperative today.

"You guys wait here," he continued, heading back the way he had come. "I going to get it and bring it in."

While they waited, 9 couldn't seem to stop smiling. He came and knelt beside the bed, placed his hand on her knee, and just gazed at her for a minute with loving, wondrous eyes.

"Go on, close your eyes," he insisted. "You'll ruin the surprise."

She sighed, marveling at how adorable they were being, and shut her eyes. Now she focused on what she could feel, instead of what she could see. Mostly, she was happily aware of 10's warm, glowing presence inside her and the weight of 9's smooth fingers on her knee.

"How have you been today?"

"Really good. Just… bored, and tired. You're a little early for the mood swings, though; they seem to hit in the evening, mostly."

She heard him laugh shortly, probably more than happy to have missed that window. But there was a spark in his voice—that knowing-ness, of having a solution that no one else had thought of yet. She loved that about him. It made her feel safe and secure, having a husband who could solve problems so quickly.

She felt him shift around until he was kneeling between her legs, hands on her hips, his forehead resting gently against her belly. She wrapped her arms around his head and shoulders, holding him closer.

"9, talk to your 10."

"I don't think the soul can hear us."

"I think it can, somehow. It fills me up with warmth and just… sheer joy, whenever I do."

"…What do I say?"

"Anything. Just talk. Just let it know you're there."

He paused for a moment, nuzzling her while he decided what to say.

"Well… Hello, 10. I don't know if you can hear me, but, if you can… Maybe I should have done this sooner. I know we haven't met yet, but I want you to know that I love you. I love you so much, that I gave you life."

That was such a wonderful thought, 7 let it fill every inch of her. Inside her, she felt the soul release a gentle wave of warm energy; there was no doubt it had heard its father's voice. Eyes still closed, she reached for his hand and placed it against her, where the soul felt the warmest.

"That's your daddy talking, sweetie," she said softly. "He made you, you know. What do you think? Do you love him, too?"

Of course, the soul couldn't answer. But she heard scuffling outside, and her brother's voice grunting as he dragged something along the floor. Within moments, she heard him enter the room.

"This thing is more cumbersome than it looks," 5 commented; she heard a thump, and guessed he was leaning against the wall, or the doorway. "Come on, help me get this though the door."

"One second," she heard 9 say, and felt his lips brush against her belly before he stood up. She smiled as she heard them wrestling with something that sounded large, trying to get it into the room.

"Oh, what could it be?" she wondered.

"Not too much longer," 9 insisted from across the room. She felt his hands take hers, and he helped her to her feet and a few steps forward. "Are you ready, 5?"

"Ready," he answered.

"Okay, 7, open your eyes."

She did, and let the sight of her present register. It was a chair, made of white-painted wood. I had wide arms on their side, with plenty of space in between. The back and seat were cushioned with hand-sewn pillows of dark blue cotton. Curved wooden arcs were attached to the feet, lifting it a little farther off the ground and making it gently swing back and forth in place.

It was a rocking chair.

"…You made this for _me_?" she asked, her disbelieving eyes wide with wonder.

"Want to try it out?"

She wordlessly let 9 lead her to her new chair, and helped her settle down into it. She had plenty of space to move around—like they knew she would want—and it was a good height for her long legs. She pulled her left knee up to her chest, resting her foot on the edge of the seat, and began to rock back and forth with her other foot on the floor.

It was so impossibly comfortable. And the gentle rocking would keep her mood swings at bay from now on. She felt like her husband and her brother were hugging her dearly at the same time. They had built this with so much love in their hearts. She thought she might cry.

"It's wonderful," she said after a moment. "It might be the nicest thing anyone's ever made for me. Thank you, both of you."

They both smiled back on either side of her, simply happy that she was happy. She took their hands in her own and sat still, just enjoying them, their company, and their beautiful gift.

"I love you guys. You know that, right?"

"Of course we do," 5 agreed. "And we love you."

Yes, indeed. Everything was going to be just fine.


	6. Foundling

Well, Barn Owl Girl, this is the chapter of truth! I can't wait to hear what you think of Pi! ;D

Also, in a major break from _Prodigal_ (for those of you who followed and loved it), the library isn't quite as miserable as it was in my last story. In _Prodigal_, 2 wasn't around to build that handy-dandy generator. XD

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_Foundling_

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It was incredible to think about, but almost ten whole weeks had passed. The blizzards of December had snowed them in, made it impossible to even think of leaving the library for anything. But the nine Stitchpunks—plus one—were safe, deep inside the building, with the generator keeping them warm. Even when snow blew inside through the holes in the roof, it was never terrible.

An entire season of winter had come and gone in what felt like the blink of an eye, to 9. While stuck indoors, he'd had plenty to keep himself busy. He had been fortunate enough to find the last few pieces he needed for 10 before the first blizzard blew in; the rest of the winter had been spent putting them all together. A fitting ten weeks later, the wiring, framework, and fabric skin had been completed and made into one thing. All it needed now was the soul, and it would be alive.

Even into the first weeks of January, the soul wasn't ready to leave the shelter of its mother. It had grown large, strong, and heavy on 7's boundless energy, leaving very little of it leftover for her to use. She was impatient for it to come out; the idea of moving freely again made her beyond antsy. And the idea of finally holding her baby close, speaking to it, rocking it and singing it to sleep, when it could _actually_ hear her voice… Waiting for that for another second was almost more than she could stand.

9 couldn't wait, either. He consoled himself with the knowledge that only two more weeks remained. And to weeks would be perfect timing. The blizzards that had ravaged the city for _all_ of December were dying down in January, giving way to light, gentle snowfall. The harsh, icy winds still blew fiercely, but carried away the mountains of snow that had fallen. It was actually becoming manageable again. 9 couldn't imagine what could go wrong enough with the birth for him to have to go out and find something at the last minute; but knowing that he could, if he had to, put him at ease.

One morning, they woke to find the sun shining pleasantly, radiating a feeble warmth through the chill wind. If any of them were going to go out, today was a good day to do it. Supplies had run rather low over the previous month. Now that the weather was somewhat bearable, the usual suspects—9 and 5, 2, 1 and 8—all ventured into the snow together. The two brothers fished a small rock out of a snowdrift, and began tossing it back and forth as they talked, as always.

"I still can't believe you're going to be a father," 5 commented with a laugh. "It's just too wonderful to get my head all the way around it."

"I can't quite believe it, myself," 9 agreed. "5, do you think the baby will like me?"

"Of course it will. You're its father. You made it. And anyway, anyone who doesn't like _you_, of all people, doesn't have a soul."

9 appreciated the compliment, and told himself not to doubt that it was true. Life was simply too good to waste it feeling useless or sorry for himself. But to himself, he wondered about his brother. He still wasn't sure what was bothering him, but a part of 5 had spent that whole winter _not_ liking him for some reason.

_I have to bring it up, sometime,_ he thought, trying not to let his thoughts show too much on his face. _But how do I do that? What am I supposed to say? I don't want to be on 5's bad side. After all we've been through, and with all that's coming, I just can't do it right now. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt me…_

They continued to walk, talk, and toss their rock around for a while longer, gathering useful things as they went. After they had gone a ways, and stopped to look through an exposed pile of trash, 5 looked up and off a bit.

"I think I see something… I'm going to check it out," he said, walking off toward whatever he had seen.

"I'll be right here," 9 answered, still going through the trash. "Holler, if you need me."

5 hadn't been gone for more than a minute, when 9 heard his brother shouting.

"9! 2! Come here! Help me with this!"

What on earth could he have found? 9 abandoned his search and dashed to his brother's side. He found 5 kneeling in the snow, cradling something in his arms. It was the body of another Stitchpunk. A very young woman with strings of curly yellow yarn for hair. Her skin was of cotton—rosy pink arms and legs, and cream-colored torso and head. And she was ripped badly in several placed.

"It looks like she was attacked," 5 explained as 9 knelt beside him. "She's unconscious, and very cold, but she is breathing, and she has a steady pulse."

"Where did she come from?" 9 wondered absently, scanning the area for other signs of life. "And who or what could have done this…?"

Before he could ponder that further, 2 caught up and took over, as he always did, in his doctoral manner.

"Oh, the poor dear," he mused, looking over her injuries. "We need to get this child inside, and quickly. It's a very lucky thing that we found her when we did. We can still save her."

The two boys were relieved to hear that. Holding her safely in his arms, 5 stood up and turned back toward the library. 2 headed off after him, but 9 hung back.

"Aren't you coming, my boy?" 2 asked over his shoulder.

"I'm going to look around here for a minute," he answered. "I need to know some things. But don't worry, I'll catch up."

"Don't be long," 2 advised. "We'll be needing your steady hands, in the workroom."

9 just nodded his assurance; he honestly didn't know how long this investigation would take. While his family walked back home, he looked around the place where 5 had found the injured girl. There was her outline, where she had lain in the snow until 5 had found her, and then there was where he had knelt to gather her up. Obvious, but unexplanatory. He ventured a little farther off.

Now _here_ was something interesting. Several deep indentations, many of them skidding across the snow before settling. He reached into one of the many small holes to find what lay at the bottom, and pulled out a rock, like the one he and 5 had been tossing around. Searching a few other holes, he found the same. He also noted that the rocks had landed surrounding a trail of dainty Stitchpunk-tracks, that probably belonged to the injured girl.

In a word, disconcerting. A little further beyond that, an entire chorus of tracks—different sizes and shapes, all muddled together in a crowd. Some were even small enough to be young children. And while they were bunched together, overlapping and obscuring some of the tracks, they all seemed to be in one place, in a line on top of another trash pile.

Clambering to the top of the pile, messing up the tell-tale tracks, 9 looked all around the land that he could immediately see. Thanks to the ruins and snow in the way, he couldn't really see much. But he could plainly see the same family of tracks wandering away in a neat little parade. And they were fairly fresh, perhaps stamped out in the middle of the night. He felt an urge to dash off and follow the tracks, see who they led to, and find answers to the many questions pestering him.

But his family, and the girl in their care, needed him more. He slid down the pile and hurried to catch up with them, reluctantly leaving the crime scene behind him.

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Back in the library, in the space they had set up as an infirmary, 5 contemplated the young woman he was treating. At least eleven cuts graced her arms, legs, and torso, and it broke his tender heart. The rips could all be mended easily, but there would be so many scars. She was so pretty and innocent; it was unfair that someone so young would carry this many scars for the rest of her life.

Together, he and 2 carefully rolled her over to see the state of her back—and to find her name. Her back looked substantially better than her front, only one rip on her shoulder blade, and another in the small of her back. And there was her name, undamaged at all. It was an odd symbol that 5 had never seen before. It looked kind of like a table, with the bottom of the right leg curled outward a little.

"That symbol is called Pi," 2 diagnosed thoughtfully. "It's a letter in the Greek alphabet. And in mathematics, it represents a decimal number which is used to determine the measurements of circles."

"A complicated name," 5 commented.

"Perhaps for a complicated girl. If what 9 told us is true, she's gotten herself into a mighty deal of trouble, recently."

"It's hard to imagine someone so young and pretty in such serious trouble."

"Looks can be deceiving, my boy. You and I ought to know that better than anyone, by now."

"I know, but…"

5 slowly, carefully studied Pi's sleeping face. It was roundly shaped, its lines soft and even, sort of childishly cute. He counted nine strands of bleached, curly yellow yarn stitched to her head like exotic braids, reaching halfway down her back. A few of the strands had dark pink strings twisted into them, and one was even decorated with little silver beads. Her head was of soft cotton, bleached to a creamy off-white over the years; certainly not a tough, sturdy material fit for a warrior, or even quite for a fully grown adult. Her brassy eyes were closed; but he was sure that youthful, intelligent eyes lay beneath.

Yes, indeed, Pi was innocent, a young flower beginning to bloom. But 5 looked at her and thought her more than just sweetly adorable, with her angel face and willowy, rosy-colored limbs. No… As he continued to gaze upon her, he thought that she was beautiful. The most beautiful girl he had ever seen. The only other girl he had ever seen, really. Maybe the only other girl he would _ever_ see. Could it really be true…?

"How could anyone this beautiful possibly be bad?" he mused, only half aware of his fingers as they caressed her soft face. "Just look at her…"

He felt cool metal fingers grip his shoulder tightly, forcing his whole focus back to reality. 2's eyebrows had knit together in a frown, the look on his face of concern and caution.

"Don't be rash, 5," he advised. "We haven't even spoken to her, yet. And she needs medical attention before anything else. If I were in her state, I would rather wake up to see my injuries mended, than find myself still in shreds."

That said, he picked up a needle he had thread while 5 hadn't been paying attention. He had chosen a light-colored cotton thread that matched Pi's torso very closely; a spool of dark pink thread stood at the ready, for her arms and legs. Starting with the largest rip he could see, he began to stitch the wounds closed.

_I hope you wake up soon, Pi,_ 5 thought as he watched his father working. _I helped save you today, but we haven't really met, yet. I can't wait to meet you._

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Pi wasn't sure when consciousness returned, or how. After her, um, _unfortunate accident_ with the Jaco-punks the previous night, she had been sure she was done for. But she suddenly realized that she heard voices around her. She was totally capable of opening her eyes again, and slowly did so. Her body still ached, though; she tried to sit up, and groaned as her muscles protested. Her sudden liveliness alerted the owners of the voices to her waking, and they dashed to her side.

"Mercy me," said an older man as his kindly face appeared in her vision. "She's finally awake. My boy was getting impatient with you," he said with an amused chuckle.

"I was not," said the other voice on her other side. She slowly turned her head to see its owner—a dark-skinned young man with an eye patch where his right eye should have been. He looked as goofy as his voice sounded. Pi instantly decided that she had no real interest in him. Or the old man, for that matter.

What she was_ really_ interested in was who these people were, how many more of them there were, and who was in charge of them. She had been aware of a fifth clan existing, somewhere. But no one had ever seen more than a rare glimpse of one of them at a time. In fact, recently, the consensus was that they had been wiped out before she'd had a chance to get to them.

But it seemed the consensus was wrong. In fact, it seemed the elusive fifth clan had saved her life. How very ironic, for them.

The old man helped her sit up straight, and laid a supportive hand on her shoulder. "How are you feeling, child?"

"Um… Stiff," she mumbled, gently rubbing her neck. "Where am I?"

"Safe," he answered comfortingly. "You've truly been through something, recently, my dear. If our 5 hadn't found you this morning, you might have frozen."

Pi looked up at the goofy boy, apparently 5, from the old man's gesture. He gave her a shy, sheepish smile and looked away quickly, as if she was too much to look at for long. And she didn't appreciate the patronizing tone the old man was using with her. As if she were a naïve, traumatized little baby.

"We've repaired all your rips as best we could," the old man continued. "It is a tragedy that you've gained so many so suddenly; you're so young."

Pi snorted indignantly at him. "I'm not a child," she insisted sharply. "I'm a grown woman, thank you very much. Treat me like one."

The old man removed his hand from her shoulder. "I apologize. You weren't in the best shape when we found you, and I had honestly expected you to need—"

He was interrupted by a knocking on a nearby open doorway. They all looked up to see another young man, who looked very much like 5, standing in the entrance with an expectant smile on his face. Both his eyes were intact, and a brassy zipper ran down his chest, gleaming in the light.

"Just coming to check on things," he said with a high, mellow voice that oozed gentleness. But he seemed stronger and tougher than the other two, somehow, and she was instantly very interested in him. Who could he be?

"Oh, good timing, 9," the old man said cheerily. "Our patient just woke up."

"That's a relief," the young man agreed, and walked up to the bed with his hand extended to her. "I'm 9. Welcome to our home."

She hesitantly shook his hand, trying to gauge him. "Pi," she answered. "I… suppose I should thank you for saving me."

"Thank 2 and 5," 9 insisted, motioning to his friends in turn. "5 was the one who found you, and 2 did all the stitching."

Pi looked down over herself at the many stitched scars; she could have played connect-the-dots with them. She sighed sadly, more peeved than ever. But they had been repaired beautifully and tightly; they weren't coming undone any time soon.

"Thank you," she said flatly, still fixated on her scars. She looked back up at them and thought of their names. 2, 5, and 9. It seemed that there were several digits missing…

"I hadn't realized there were others," she commented, hoping to draw something out.

"Neither had we," 9 agreed. "We've been aware of ourselves, but we had hoped there were others like us, somewhere. We're happy to be right."

"So, it's just the three of you?"

"No, no. I'm the ninth. There are nine of us, altogether; plus one, later this month," he informed with a very proud smile.

These people were becoming more and more intriguing, with 9's every revealing word. Had they been so secluded, they didn't know about the other clans? She had barely known about them, herself, so she supposed it was possible. And could it be, that one of their clan's women was expecting a child? That was extremely good luck. Her search would prove fruitful after all, and much shorter.

"Where are they all?" she asked. "I'd like to meet them."

"Already? You just woke up. You don't want to rest more?"

"I don't want to rest all alone. And you've been very kind to me; I'd like to meet my hosts."

"Well, I can understand that. 2, is it alright to let the others in?" he asked the old man.

2 made a doubtful noise, reluctant at first. "…I suppose it's alright, if she would like to meet them," he finally consented. "But we mustn't let them rile her; she does need to finish recovering, after all."

"There are already a few certain someone's lurking in the hall," 9 informed them, looking back toward the doorway. Following his gaze, Pi saw three curious pairs of eyes peering into the room.

"Come on, you guys, you can come in," 9 called to them. Slowly, the three other Stitchpunks came quietly into the light, and two of them darted behind him before she could get a good look at them. But he laughed good naturedly, not bothered in the slightest by their shyness.

"Pi, this is 3, and his twin sister, 4—my adopted children," he explained. "And this is 6."

She could clearly see the stripey Stitchpunk, standing in the open light. His skin was covered in blotchy ink stains, and his left eye was noticeably smaller than the other. He was also the first of them she'd seen to have hair, a tangled mop of black yarn stitched to his head. And his fingers were the nibs of ink pens. At first, he stuck her as being crazy, or a bit slow, or maybe a mix of both. But she looked again and felt something bigger from him. Pi was certain that 6 would turn out to be much more interesting than he appeared.

"We're still missing three of our number," 9 continued. "I can go find them for you, if you'd like."

"I would love to meet them, yes," Pi agreed right away.

"I'll be right back, then," he said, taking his leave. As he walked off, she finally got a look at the twins. 3 was a hair taller than 4, who stood behind him as if he were a shield, while their guardian was gone. They were very obviously children, probably no older than ten years old, at heart. She decided to be cordial with them, convince them that she wasn't to be feared.

"Hello, 3 and 4. I'm Pi," she said sweetly. They just stared back at her with bright, wide eyes. They looked immensely intelligent, for being so young. But they didn't answer her.

"Come on, you two, I won't bite," she encouraged them, but they remained silent.

"They won't answer," 2 informed her. "Aside from being shy and skittish, they are also mute. They don't speak. At least, not in the conventional way."

"What do you mean?"

"They speak with their eyes," 5 explained, speaking up for the first time in his goofy voice. "They flicker in what we think is Morse code, and it just registers to us as whole words. We don't understand how it works, but we don't question it. We just enjoy it."

"Oh…" Pi didn't understand, either. She had seen other unusual things in the other clans, but this was in the top five, at least. Still not speaking in any form, 3 waved at her shyly, prompting his twin to do the same. Instead of pondering the matter, she turned to 6.

"Hello," she said to him.

"…Hello," he answered, a barely audible whisper, and he backed up to stand against the wall, as far from her as he could seem to manage. What did he sense in her that upset him so? How did he read her so well?

"Don't mind him," 2 insisted. "He's a brilliant boy, and a fine artist, but he is as shy as the twins. Don't be offended if he doesn't say much to you."

After a few more moments, 9 returned with the rest of their clan in tow. The small infirmary was suddenly rather crowded. The first of the three to step forward was an older man—perhaps older than 2—who stood in front of another newcomer, obscuring them slightly from view.

"Pi, meet the rest of us," 9 introduced, gesturing to them. "This is our elder, 1," he continued, indicating the sharply shapen old man, who's front was adorned with metal buckles. Without hesitating, he walked right to the bedside and grasped her hand.

"Welcome, milady," he said grandly, though with the barest hint of a grimace. "It's good to see you awake so soon."

"Thank you," she said quietly, unable to not feel slightly intimidated by the old man's presence. She sensed a great change had taken place in him recently; but something deep and dark lay within him, still. He released her hand and stood back, and 9 continued the introductions.

"8's still out in the hall," he said, looking back out the doorway. 8 was huge—every clan had its strongman. While he let everyone breathe by remaining outside, he peered into the room at her with an easygoing smile, and waved hello.

"Welcome," he said in a rumbly but sort of snuggly voice. Since he was so far away, it was difficult to read him at all. She decided to wait until later for him. Finally, 9 pulled the final member of their clan into view.

"And this," he concluded lovingly, "is my lovely wife, 7."

7 gave her a brilliant smile. "Hello, Pi," she said in a deep, silky voice. 9 had clearly saved the best of them for last. It didn't matter that, up front, her body was as androgynous as the rest of them. Every inch of her was white canvas that almost glowed, even in spite of being sun-bleached, rust-stained, and scared in a few placed. She was elegant and gorgeous. And—whoa! Her belly was swollen with life.

"Oh, you're expecting," Pi noted. To this, 7 smiled and patted her belly with pride.

"Yes, in a week or two, now," she agreed. Beaming at her husband, she added, "It seems like only yesterday, doesn't it?" In answer, he beamed back and raised her fingers to his lips.

They were in love. So deeply in love. And there was absolutely no doubt that 9 was the father of this unborn child. Such volatile emotions always made Pi's work a little easier.

2 laughed warmly, looking over each and every one of them. "And that is our family," he said with a smile. "We're a pretty good-looking family, aren't we? Except for 1, of course."

Everyone struggled not to laugh out loud, but 1 bristled a little.

"That's not funny, brother," he grumbled.

But the two brothers seemed to have an understanding, despite it all. Still, there was a remnant of darkness in 1 that Pi couldn't wait to put to her advantage. While she pondered this, 3 stepped forward and tugged gently on 7's arm to get her attention.

"_Mama, it's too crowded in here. 4 and I are gonna go."_

Even though she had been warned, Pi was still a little surprised to see the alleged flicker-speak. Even though 3 hadn't been talking to her, she completely understood what he had said.

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit," she answered, and the twins skittered out, gone in a flash.

"The children are correct; it _has _gotten too crowded in here," 1 commented, as if he had just noticed. "I shall let myself out." With that, he turned and went back the way he had come.

"8, are you coming?"

"No," 8 rumbled. "I'll stay."

"Very well, then," 1 answered, sounding like he didn't really approve, but continued on his way. 8 graciously remained just outside the door, but continued paying attention to what was going on inside.

"Pi," 2 said in a much more serious tone, "if you'd like to rest for a bit, we would understand. But—since you're awake—if you don't mind, we'd like to know what happened to you."

Oh, no. There was no way she was telling them the series of events that led to the Jaco-punks trying to stone her to death.

"I'd like to rest," she answered. "I suppose I am still a little shaken."

"Take your time, young lady," he insisted. "We're all just glad that you're feeling better."

She gave him a sincere smile. She was remarkably good at faking them. Convincing them that she was just a poor, injured lamb had been wonderfully easy. They didn't suspect a thing.

_The fools have no clue what is coming…_


	7. The Tenth

These chapters keep getting longer and longer! I try to keep them short and sweet, but so much _STUFF_ happens in this one!

Also, sunburn. On muh bum. But only on one side. I'm such a 5, sometimes. :D

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_The Tenth_

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After she had woken and could give her permission, the little old doctor named 2 convinced Pi to let him check her wiring for damage. She had acted the part of a modest, cautious young woman who knew the dangers of the world; and once again, those around her completely bought it. But truthfully, she was concerned about the state of her wiring and couldn't wait for someone to look in on it. Her leg felt numb, and she couldn't move it; and she had developed a tick in her right eye.

Most of all, with the kindly old man so close, she could tell best what sort of person he was. If he was strong or weak enough to suit her purpose.

The old man gently insisted that he meant her no harm, and that he was only concerned. So she finally reached to her side, undoing three brass buttons hidden cleverly beneath a fold of fabric. Her caretakers were impressed; the buttons had been hidden so well, they hadn't even been noticed before.

2 then peered inside her at the tangle of wires that made her function. But he did so with an objective eye, not even touching anything unless he had to. After a moment, he took hold of one wire, examined it, and then tugged gently on in.

"Did you feel that, Pi?"

"No, I didn't."

He nodded his head. "This red wire connects to your left leg; but I'm afraid it's come loose. That would explain why you can't move or even feel it."

"Can you fix it?"

"Well, certainly. I shall have to pop your leg seam so I can operate, but it's only a matter of reconnecting the wire, again. Even if it's been cut by one of the stones that hit you, it's still easily repaired. You'll be back on your feet in a day or two."

That was good news. As 2 was finishing up, he made a face and reached into her body cavity, pulling out a round, black object that glinted in the light.

"What's this…?"

"Oh, just a trinket of mine," Pi insisted, snatching it back. "It's important to me; I keep it close to my heart."

2 gave her a smile. "That's lovely, Pi. Where did you get it?"

"My, uh, father gave it to me, before he died." Not entirely a lie…

"My condolences. The rest of your family must be missing you terribly, then. We'll have you on your way home in no time, my dear. Don't you worry about that."

Pi smiled and nodded back. She was glad of that, but she didn't appreciate that 2 still treated her like a child. He was always handling her so delicately, just because she was a girl, she was injured, and she had an adorable angel face. Truly, at heart, she really was as young as she looked. But the craft the she dealt in wasn't for children; if she didn't act like the adult she felt she was, no one would ever take her seriously.

2 headed for the door, looking over his shoulder. "I'll be right back. 5, will you come help me with some things, or can I trust you to keep your shirt on in here?" he asked his son with a chuckle.

To this, 5 rolled his one eye. "If you want my help, you don't have to tease me," he countered glumly, and followed his father.

Pi laughed at them, pretending to be amused. Because it _was_ amusing; she just didn't particularly care. Now that she was alone, she held the black onyx sphere in her hands and cleared her mind. First as a faraway whisper, and then as a solid presence, she heard and felt her master contacting her through the enchanted stone.

_Oh, my dear Pi. I was afraid I had lost you. Delta is a fine disciple, but she is not you, my love._

"Yes, I live, Alpha," she answered in a whisper. "I've just gotten very lucky. The fifth clan hasn't been wiped out, like the others thought. All of them are alive, and a child is due them this month. They've rescued me."

_This is excellent. How do they look? How strong are they?_

"The leader is promising, but he seems tough to crack. The elder is strong, but also very weak; I don't know how much we could get from him, though."

_And the others?_

"Their woman is strong, but she's very heavy with child, and its weakened her. We'll have to wait and see about her. The doctors… I don't know. The old man is sweet enough, but he seems an upstanding and honorable man. As for his boy—"

_Boy? Are there already children among them?_

"Only two—twins. They're a resilient and intelligent pair, but their strength is of mind, not body. What we're looking for, I don't think those two could provide. The doctor's boy is grown, and very silly. I suppose he's fallen head-over-heels for me, the way he keeps looking at me. It's ridiculous."

_Hm… Consider this boy more carefully, my pet. He sounds the most promising of all. But, keep an eye on this leader of theirs. I'll be watching, through you, as always. We will discuss this later._

"Of course, my love," she agreed, as the connection broke.

When she had her mind to herself again, she slowly considered the "strength" and "weakness" that Alpha had sent her looking for. Even though she was a faithful servant and never questioned her master's reasoning, it still confused her. For their purposes, strength was mostly a matter of body, and sometimes of mind, but mostly of body. Weakness of body was, well, a weakness; but Alpha also considered traits such as compassion, love, and clairvoyance to be weaknesses as well. Useful, in moderation, to ensnare a person, perhaps. But weak, all the same, and to be avoided when selecting a suitable sacrifice.

Pi had never agreed to Alpha's reasoning about weaknesses. When picking out a likely candidate, she found it best to find the ones who felt a great deal of compassion or love, or other strong emotions that her master liked to scorn. The true weakness of the people she targeted was their state of mind. What was their strength of body or spirit, if there was nothing to guard them? Experience had shown that such people made excellent sacrifices, and their substantial souls fed her coven's own strength for months.

Pi's work was cut out. But choosing the right member of this clan to drag home was going to be a tough one…

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It was one of those evenings that was just oddly quiet. Nothing was really going on in the library, but there was something electric in the air. It was the calm before the storm, and 7 wondered what that could mean.

Though she had a sinking, unexplainable feeling that it had something to do with the young woman in their care. Pi had been with them for four days now, and she seemed to be recovering nicely. She still couldn't walk on her left foot, and had to be helped around everywhere she went. She also insisted that everyone was treating her like a child, and that it offended her to no end. She was a grown woman, and wanted to be treated so.

But 7 couldn't take that seriously. Pi wasn't a child, but she certainly wasn't a grown woman. She couldn't have been more than 17 or 18, at heart. For that matter, no one else could seem to take her seriously, either. No one but 5, anyway. He was always happy to accommodate her; and it made his sister roll her eyes.

_He's begging for trouble,_ she thought that night. All of them were together in the common room, as they always were in the evenings. Pi had recovered enough to join them, and was sitting on a pillow near the fireplace, where it was warmest. She was quiet, observing each of them closely. Until she tried to observe 7, and realized that she was being observed, herself; she turned her attention elsewhere.

_She puts on a show, 10,_ she thought to her baby. _But I don't think she's what she appears. And I think you sense it, too._

She also decided that a good policy would be to watch 6 a little more closely. He always seemed to know things before everyone else; and he had a natural talent for finding things that were hidden. 7 had underestimated those abilities once, and she would never fully forgive herself for it. In this instance, his insight could prove to be their most valuable asset.

He had always seemed to be nervous of Pi, from the moment he first saw her. He was morbidly fascinated by her, overwhelmed by curiosity, but terrified to get too close to her. This evening, he was boldly making an attempt to break through his fear and approach her. 7 watched, slightly amused, as her brother inched closer and closer to their guest over a quarter of an hour, still nervous, but needing to try. He came closer so slowly, Pi didn't even notice him until he had almost reached her. When she did, she gave him a sweet smile.

"I promise, I won't bite,"she teased him; she'd said this to him a lot over the past four days. She held out her hand to him, inviting him even closer.

Looking a bit cowed, 6 reached out to take her hand—it didn't look like he had much of a choice, now. He barely touched her, easing his inky fingers over hers, like a dog sniffing the hand of a stranger. The next second—it happened so fast that 7 almost didn't catch it—he jumped away with a cry of alarm, as if Pi's hand was scalding hot.

His unusually unusual behavior startled everyone out of their various quiet conversations. 9 hopped up from his place beside 7, and went directly to the aid of their little brother.

"6, what's the matter?" he asked, trying to gather the trembling boy into his arms. But 6 kept backing away, mumbling fearfully to himself, until her had hidden himself behind 8—the largest shield he could find. Once he was safe, he peered out from his hiding place and pointed a shaking, accusatory finger at Pi.

"She's no good!" he exclaimed. "She needs to go away! She needs to leave us!"

And _that_ would just about confirm what 7 had feared. If barely touching her set 6 and his sharp senses off, the rest of them were more than prepared to believe that something wasn't right. She was sure of that. Her surprise was all the greater, then, when 5 dropped what he was doing and rushed to Pi's defense.

"6, stop that," he scolded, sort of shielding her from him. "Don't scare her like that. She hasn't done anything."

Before he had even finished speaking, 7 felt bothered enough to get up, slowly rising to her feet, trying not to topple over. Once she had steadied herself, she took a few steps toward her brother.

"5, maybe we should listen to him," she insisted sternly. "We all know he sees things a little differently from the rest of us; but when has he ever really been—"

A sudden sharp pain shot through her like an arrow, snatching her breath away. Her head began to spin, and her knees felt weak. Purely out of instinct, she threw her arms around her belly, an obviously pointless effort to shield the soul from what was hurting her so badly. As she fell to the floor, she tried to search through the pain for a source. Besides the sharp pain, she felt the soul struggling against her; it almost felt like it was screaming and crying, begging to be released.

_Oh no…_

She was immediately frightened; and the birth pangs hurt so much more than she had expected. 9 was beside her in a heartbeat, his strong arms holding her close, as she trembled and gasped for breath.

"7, what happened? What's wrong?" he asked. He sounded as terrified as she was, silently imploring her not to say what he knew she was going to say. She gripped his arm and gritted her "teeth", trying to fight back the pain enough to get a few words out.

"9… The baby's coming…!"

Even though she was still terrified, hardly able to move, he jumped right to action. He hauled her to her feet as gently as he could and steered her to the door, calling orders over his shoulder.

"2, go ahead and get everything ready—"

But the old man zipped right past them before 9 could finish speaking. Thank goodness.

"6, take the twins into the globe, and just stay there until you're sent for. And the rest of you, just hang tight. Everything's going to be okay, I promise."

7 tired her hardest not to pay attention to everything else around her; she just focused on putting one foot in front of the other until they were back in their bedroom. She was vaguely aware of 2 scurrying around the room, putting things in order; but mostly, she was aware of the bed. She fell back on the mattress, overwhelmed as another contraction wracked her. This was definitely worse than the first one. This time, she couldn't fight the scream that gathered in her throat.

"Ow! Hell—crap—Paracelsus—!"

She honestly couldn't think of a better expletive, than the name of the genius who had designed her to feel the pains of childbearing as fully as any human woman would have. A wave of mild relief followed as her husband fell beside her on the bed, supporting her head with one hand, directing her gaze directly into his.

"7, look at me, just look at me," he insisted gently, running his thumb along her face. "It's okay. Everything is going to be okay. Just keep breathing. Deep breaths—in, and out; in and out."

She did as she was told, amazed that breathing so deeply really did help, a little. She reached up and gripped his arm; he didn't flinch, but she couldn't believe that her tight grip wasn't hurting him.

"It's early," she gasped. "Why is it early?"

"I don't know."

"9, I'm scared."

"Don't be," he whispered back, nuzzling her face. "I'm right here. I'm not leaving you. I promise."

She never doubted that; but hearing it out loud in this moment was refreshing. The contraction eased as suddenly as it had come, and the pain lessened greatly, but it had exhausted her. She could barely move, and didn't care to. Her child's soul was still struggling, battling against her for its freedom. Why it had suddenly chosen to be merciful, she couldn't say; but she hoped, even though it was missing a week of development, that it was still strong enough to get out safely.

_My 10, please be alright…_

After a brief moment of deliberation, 9 climbed all the way onto the bed. He sat behind her and gently pulled her up, so she was sitting at an angle against him. She rested her head against his shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her safe. For a lovely moment, the pain was completely bearable. Then he reached down, feeling for her catch, and opened her up.

"What are you doing?"

"We have to get 10 out… But you're not going to like it. I need you to trust me, and I need you to trust 2, okay?"

7 didn't like what that meant at all. She had a very bad feeling that it had something to do with…

2 finally turned to face them with a serious, solemn look on his face—and the enigmatic talisman in hand.

"Let's get this child into its body, and quickly."

The sight of it filled 7's mind with nothing but panic. She understood plainly what they meant to do: they were going to pull the soul into the talisman. That horrible thing that did nothing but destroy anything it touched. She wouldn't allow that thing or any of its trappings anywhere near her. And the fragile soul of her only child? Never!

"Keep that thing away from me!" she screamed, struggling to get herself and the struggling soul as far from the talisman as possible. "I won't let it near my baby!"

"7, please stop! You'll hurt yourself," 9 pleaded, trying to restrain her. She turned wildly to face him, desparate for another solution.

"Don't make me do this! There must be another way—there has to be!"

"There isn't," he answered solidly, griping her by the shoulders. "There is only this. This is the only way."

Adrenaline crashed again and she fell back against him, burying her face in his arm as she began to cry.

"Don't make me do this. _Please_ don't make me do this. I'm so scared…"

9 held her close and tight, safe even from the talisman. He rubbed her back and rocked her a little as she cried, trying to calm her.

"7, listen to me," he whispered. "I am so sorry it has to be this way. I know that you're afraid, but you _must_ trust me. Please, just trust me."

He was right. When had he ever _tried_ to bring her to grief? Even if she couldn't trust her friends, her family, or even her own eyes, she could always trust her 9 to lead her safely. And her body sent her a warning that she had no time and no other option, anyway. A boil was rising in her, another contraction about to overtake her. But the rest of her was still terrified.

She felt 2's rough, chilly fingers on her shoulder—the oldest, dearest presence she had ever known.

"We know what we're doing, my dear. We won't let it hurt you, or 10. We promise you."

7 took in a deep, shaking breath, and slowly, carefully sat up. She still trembled with fear; but she bravely opened her chest, exposing her wiring, as well as the expanded, balloon-like container that held 10's struggling soul. Only her husband and father could she trust with this view.

"Do it quickly, like you said."

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5 did not like his assigned task of "hanging tight". The baby was coming a week earlier than it was supposed to; his sister was in tremendous pain; and his father and best friend had to keep her calm _and_ deliver a baby at the same time. How could they not need his help? He wanted so badly to be with them, to be useful in this uncertain hour.

Within minutes, though, he was glad that they had left him behind. For nearly half an hour, 7's screams of pain echoed down the hall and into the common room like a malevolent ghost. The horrible, unbelievable sound sent chills down the spines of everyone present—even 1, who had never cared a spec for 7's feelings in the past, looked horrified. How could something as pure and innocent as a baby cause its own mother so much heartache?

5 envied 6 and the twins, safe in the globe. They were deeper into the building, behind thick walls, in a closer space that didn't echo as badly. If they could hear the screams and occasional pleas for a merciful death, it was as a whisper, or a dream. He had wondered why they, specifically, had been sent away; he now wished that he had been sent with them.

He supposed he had a choice to get up and leave, himself. But he chose to stay put, to remain on hand and in plain sight, should he be needed. He sat by the fire, beside beautiful Pi, and stared into the flame, trying to ignore the echoes.

"Why don't you leave?" she asked him after a while. "It's clear this is bothering you."

"I can handle it," he answered. "I've handled worse. If they need me, they'll know right where I am: waiting patiently."

"What if they don't need you?"

"…Then I'll still here, waiting."

"Huh. You're a good brother."

5 gave her smile. He didn't care what everyone else said about being irrational, his heart fluttered like a butterfly. She saw that he was a good person, and she approved. 6 had been wrong about her. Pi was good, just like the rest of them. What on earth had gotten into him?

He decided not to think about his dopey brother, and concentrated all the harder on the fire. He drifted off into a dream without realizing it; in his dream, he woke and found himself staring at the same fire, in the same position he had fallen asleep in. He looked up and gazed around. Everything seemed eerily darker than he remembered.

And it was quiet…

"_Pi, something isn't right…"_

"_I know,"_ she answered beside him. _"7 stopped screaming a little while ago."_

Once again, his heart fluttered with excitement. _"That means 10's here,"_ he exclaimed, and ran out the door. Even as he ran, he had a terrible feeling of foreboding. Something still wasn't right.

He skidded to a halt before the bedroom door, which was wide open, practically inviting him inside. But what awaited him was nothing short of a nightmare. 2 was kneeling on the floor with his head in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably. On the bed, 9 cradled 7's limp body in his arms, a blank, stricken look on his face.

She was gone. And she had taken the child with her—

He woke with a start, his heart racing. For a long, frightening moment, he wasn't sure where he was. But clarity slowly returned, and he finally realized that he had only been dreaming.

"How long has it been…?" he wondered.

"An hour or so," answered Pi's sweet voice. "You were so quiet, I figured you'd fallen asleep."

Quiet… It _was_ rather quiet. Fear gripped him.

"Pi, 7 isn't screaming."

"She only stopped a minute or two ago. Are you alright, 5? You look like you've seen a ghost."

He dearly wanted to blurt out all the horror of his dream, pour his heart out to her. Surely, she would understand. But before he could, he heard footsteps in the hall. They both turned in time to see 2 stagger wearily into the room. He leaned against the wall and sank to the floor.

His sudden reappearance raised everyone's curiosity and anxiety. But for the moment, he looked entirely too exhausted to say anything.

"I… am never delivering another baby for as long as I live," he stated slowly. "5, if they ever have another child, it's _all_ up to you; so you'd better study that book. That said, 9 would like to see you. I don't know how 7 feels about visitors presently, but 9 needs you."

She was alive. She was alive, and it really had been nothing more than a bad dream, influenced by fear. Exhaling a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, he patted Pi on the shoulder.

"I'll be back," he said.

"Take your time," she agreed, nodding her head.

5 had found sheer horror in his dream; he couldn't imagine what he might find behind that door in real life. Once again, he found it wide open, beckoning him gently, almost cheerfully inside. 9 and 7 were sitting in the bed; she was leaning heavily against him, while he held her steady in his arms. Their gaze was directed downward, on a dark bundle of blanket she held to her chest.

9 noticed him at once, glad that he had come so quickly, and gave him a grand smile. "Come on in, 5. Come and meet your niece."

He was so relived, he couldn't quite move for a second. "Niece… It's a girl, then?"

9 nodded wordlessly and gestured to his brother to please, come inside. 5 willed his feet to move, and he came to sit on the bed beside them. He couldn't really see 10, swaddled in a blanket, with her face snuggled against her mother's chest; but he imagined she must be beautiful.

"How are you all doing?"

"Tired," 9 answered with a sigh. "Very tired. But… alright."

"I've never known a pain as extraordinary as that," 7 commented quietly, not looking up at all. "And I know a thing or two about pain, myself. But this…"

She smiled down on her newborn daughter, tenderly stroking her soft little face.

"Her eyes are squeezed shut, and her eyebrows are all scrunched up, like she's thinking hard about things," she said with a soft laugh. "I'd love to know what she's thinking about… If she realizes how much like her daddy she already is…"

In a few words, worth it. Absolutely worth it.

While she continued to marvel at her child, 9 turned his attention to his brother.

"5, a lot's happened today."

"Your wife just had a baby."

"I have to stay here, with them; for the next few days, they _really_ need me. And I need your help."

Oh yes, he had forgotten. It seemed impossibly long ago; but 9 had chosen him over everyone else to be the clan's Beta—the fearless leader when the leader wasn't able to lead. He had led them successfully once. In this moment, when his best friend needed him so much, he actually felt confident in his own abilities.

"What do you need from me?"

"Just a few things, for now. Go to the globe and get 3 and 4; they have to meet their sister. Let the others know how everything's turned out; they can probably come and see us in the morning, but… Well, we'll see how that shakes out. And Pi."

"What about her?"

"How has she been since, you know, earlier?"

"Oh, that thing with 6? She's fine; her same, sweet self."

"I want you to keep an eye on her for me. When 6 acts like that—"

"Don't worry about that; it was probably nothing."

"Last time it was 'nothing', it turned out to be a whole lot of _something_. I don't know what happened with him earlier; but he's never been wrong in the past, and I'm not going to ignore him now."

5 had really hoped that everyone had forgotten about it by now; but he should have known better than to hope for that from 9, who never forgot about important things. Arguing was pointless now, so he nodded his head.

"Alright, I'll keep an eye on her."

"Not _too_ close of an eye. Just make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."

"Of course."

"And don't let her get anyone else into trouble, either."

"She wouldn't do that on purpose."

"…If you say so," he said lowly. Perhaps he also sensed that arguing was pointless, because he then dropped the subject.

"Hey, I'll go get started on everything," 5 said helpfully, and stood up. "I'll go get the twins."

""I can't say we're not excited to see them. Thank you, 5, for everything."

"I'm your brother. It's what I'm here for, he insisted as he walked out the door. As he headed toward the globe, something amazing struck him:

Since they had found Pi, he hadn't felt jealous once.

_I hope that 2 didn't mean what he said, about never delivering another child,_ he thought, feeling sort of light and really happy. _I don't know if I could deliver my own child all by myself…_


	8. The Shadow

Who's ready for a heaping plate of cute? Cuz that's exactly what you're about to get. :D

Also, the song that 9 sings in this chapter. It is an Irish folk song, which Mary Black covered nicely in the 90's. It's a lovely song, and, as you'll soon see, quite fitting. It will be a reoccurring thing; I'd advise you to look it up and learn the tune, so you can visualize it in Elijah Wood's voice when you read. XD

Save room for desert, because when you're done with this plate of cute, there will Pi. Plenty of Pi.

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_The Shadow_

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It had been still and quiet for the past two days—a large and lovely contrast to all the hullabaloo only a few days earlier. 9 had only left the bedroom once or twice, when his lovely ladies were sleeping, to check in on the rest of the clan. He would stay for as long as he could, to answer all their questions and reassure them that everything was just fine with him, his wife, and his gorgeous baby girl. But he could never leave them alone for long. 7 was still tired and weak, and needed his help more than ever. And 10 had only been alive for two days; she deserved her father's undivided attention.

Having been deprived of his own father, 9 was determined that his daughter would never have to know such a thing.

Today, 7 was feeling well enough to move to the rocking chair, to finally sit with her baby. She had been looking forward to rocking 10 for weeks. Now that she was finally doing it, her most pressing dream realized, she wasn't entirely sure what to do. So she rocked the child in silence, lovingly admiring her face and her every tiny movement, humming softly to her.

Having only been in a body for a few days yet, 10 was still growing accustomed to the joys and grieves of being bound to an earthly vessel. So far, she could blink, move her fingers and toes a little, and cry. A lot. Either she already had a lot to say—like her daddy—or she couldn't decide whether coming out of her shelter a week early had been a good idea, and wanted to go back—a bit fickle, like her mommy.

But she was quiet now, her mouth full of one end of 7's catch. Human babies had suckled on their mother's breasts, as well, their one source of nourishment being the rich, warm milk within. 10 needed no such thing, but she did so, anyway. 9 figured it must have been out of pure instinct, from the very human soul she possessed. Nursing worked its other charms, too. In humans, it had stimulated chemical reactions that resulted in bonding hormones, for mother and child, both. It was a comforting thing; and they both looked very comfortable, indeed.

For a long while, 9 just sat on the bed, watching them in absolute awe and wonder. His heart was so full of love for them both; he had no idea what he was supposed to do with so much pure, raw love. He felt like it was tearing him apart at the seams, but building him up at the same time. It was irrational. Illogical. Completely unexplainable. Powerful beyond any reason. And volatile. _So_ volatile. If anything were to happen to either of them, the rawness of his love would surely enable him to do anything to save them. If not, he knew that the same rawness would break him, destroy him, maybe even bring him to death.

But for now, they were safe under his watchful eye. Nothing evil could touch them, now.

After a while, 10 pulled away and began crying softly, threatening to start screaming if her current need wasn't met quickly enough.

"What's the matter, my child?" 7 asked quietly, her voice like a song. "Are you tired of me already? Do you want to see your daddy?"

Hearing the word "daddy", 10 stopped crying for almost a whole second—a clear yes. Always happy to hold her, 9 stood up to collect his child.

"You haven't seen your daddy all day, have you," 7 agreed, carefully handing her over into her father's waiting arms. As soon as he had taken her, she stopped crying altogether.

"She already knows what 'daddy' means," 7 remarked, leaning back in the chair with a content smile. "She's a daddy's girl; just like me."

10 gazed up at him with big, wondrous eyes, amazed at the sight of her father. He smiled down at her, amazed at her, too.

"Hello, my precious girl."

At the sound of his voice, she cooed back in reply. He wished he knew what she was trying to say.

"Just look at you. You haven't been a live for a week yet, and you've already got so much to say about everything. You don't know what speaking means, or even what it is. You don't even know what thinking or feeling is. But you try, anyway."

He held his hand out and let her grab hold of his finger—the pretty, decorated one with his wedding ring on it—which she immediately stuck in her mouth and began sucking on. Even though her mouth was full, she went on cooing to him, talking about everything on her newborn mind in a language only she could understand.

"Would you like to hear a song, 10? I know several that I've been dying to sing to you. But this one… It's so full of wisdom, and everything that our clan stands for. And it reminds me of your mother. I'll sing this one to you a lot, probably for the rest of your life. I always want you to remember it. Would you like to hear it now?"

10 was suddenly silent, but continued her wondrous gaze. It was as if she understood him completely, and was excited to hear his song. Having her full attention, he began to sing.

_What's the spring-breathing jasmine and rose ?_

_What's the summer with all its gay train_

_Or the splendour of autumn to those_

_Who've bartered their freedom for gain? _

_Let the love of our land's sacred rights_

_To the love of our people succeed._

_Let friendship and honour unite_

_And flourish on both sides the Tweed._

7 sighed dreamily from the rocking chair, enchanted by the song. "That is beautiful, 9. Where did you learn that?"

"Out of an old book I found," he answered. "It's a folk song from another land, far away from here. But it suits us all, doesn't it?"

"And I do hope that for her. If she's ever faced with losing her freedom, I hope that she fights for it first with all her might." She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "Please. _Never_ let her willingly give up her freedom for anything…"

"She's your daughter, 7. She would never let that go so easily."

To that, she smiled. "Sing some more, my love."

9 had learned two other verses from the book he had seen; whether there was more, he wasn't sure. But he went on to sing them, all the same. Before he was quite finished with the last verse, 10 had drifted off to sleep with his finger still in her mouth. It seemed like she gained several pounds whenever she fell asleep in his arms, but he didn't mind. He had carried heavier, farther, through fire and rain. He could hold his baby for hours and never get tired of it. When he had finished, 7 laughed softly to herself.

"Maybe we should have made her out of tweed, then," she mused. "But I love her just the way she is. 9, I know that song is for 10… But sing it again? For me?"

"Of course, my 7. For you, anything."

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Pi was alone for the first time all day. One or both of her caretakers were almost always nearby, in case she should need anything. Her bad leg still kept her from going anywhere on her own, so she couldn't get out of bed without someone's help. But 2 had some sort of technical project he was working, and had left her early today.

5 had stayed, though. For as long as he could, anyway. With his brother busy with a new baby, the one-eyed Stitchpunk was in charge of things for a while. He didn't like being too far away from her; he had finally grown the nerve to look her in the eye when he spoke to her, and it seemed to thrill him. Alas, he also had to leave her, eventually. Assuring him that she would use the time alone to sleep, she gladly let him go.

Now that she was by herself, she opened herself and took the onyx sphere out of her body cavity.

"They're gone, Alpha."

_Yes, I can see that. You were right about the doctor; he's far too weak for a suitable sacrifice. Too strongly led by love, and too thick to be easily broken. It's certainly wiser to work on his brother, the elder. 1, yes?_

"Yes. From what we've gathered, he was once the leader of this clan. But he led through fear and power lust. I understand that he had locked them all away in a church for several years. He used to claim that he did so to keep them safe; but I think he liked the feeling of being in total control more than anything."

_What changed that?_

"9, their new leader. He is the clan's Bearer; he woke later than the Bearers of the other clans, only about a year and a half ago. He seems a strong and wise leader; he allows them their freedom and their voice—luxuries that 1 wouldn't hear of."

_I imagine that he hasn't taken this power shift very well._

"He goes along with it. He is an old man, and he's tired; part of him is almost glad that he doesn't have to be responsible for all these people anymore. All the same, there is anger and jealousy lurking deep within his heart. It's bare, nearly forgotten. But it's there. This one little vice would be his undoing."

_Very promising. I would that he was younger, stronger; his shriveled old soul won't hold us for long. But it's been since autumn that we've been nourished, and the strength of the last sacrifice is waning. You chose him wisely, love. He's held us well, in your absence._

Pi smiled darkly. "Thank you, Alpha."

_Certainly, target 1 first. But keep your mind to the Bearer; he will hold us better, longer, if you can snatch him. Now, tell me of the child._

"She's only been two days, but she is already very smart. She has a very strong soul already, but untainted by love, or any other emotions or thoughts yet."

_If you manage to stay for a while, allow the child to grow a little more, she could do just as nicely as any of them. Maybe even just as well as either of her parents. It is a shame the mother has been so weakened; her presence of mind doesn't sound as solid as her husband's._

"7 is impatient and strong-willed; but yes, she would have made a much easier sacrifice to obtain. If only the child hadn't weakened her so. She has no clue just how fortunate she is, to no longer be an option."

_And how has it been for you, since the little prophet's outburst the other night?_

"I'm not entirely sure. 7 seemed to be on his side; though I don't know much more about it, because I haven't seen her since then. And I'm sure that if she believed him, then 9 believes him, as well. 2 is worried, but he tries to keep it to himself, not to worry me about it. 5 refuses to believe it at all. He refuses to believe that I could do anything wrong."

_I don't think you give this boy enough credit. He's smitten with you. You can see it written all over his doomed face, like an open book. Out of all of them, he would be the easiest to lead. The fool is completely blind. He doesn't suspect a thing._

"But he thinks he loves me, Alpha."

_Lust is not the same as love, Pi. It's fleeting, fickle, and pliable. You should know that by now. _

"I suppose you're right. I don't look forward to seducing an oaf like 5, though."

_You never balked at it with any of the others. All the other fools were the same. _

"He's not like the others."

_Relax, pet. He's a naïve little boy, blinded by his feelings. Your 5 will be no different from anything you've encountered before. Only consider it, my dear. Nab the first one you can, and come back to us as soon as you can walk again. I have a strong feeling that this clan will take time to crack. You can't afford to waste any time._

"I understand," she answered, and the connection broke. She chose to take Alpha's final advice to heart. If her coven was really so short on time, she would take the easy way and target 1, first. Most likely, she would get lucky and score a sacrifice right away, since he was so weak.

Perhaps her master hadn't fully understood her, when she had said that 5 was different. He _was_ very different from other men she had targeted in the past. Their lust for a seemingly easy dish like her had been their weakness; whatever other strength of mind they may have had abandoned them. But what feelings 5 felt for her, she could already tell that they went much deeper than anything so simple. Lust was somewhat logical, in its lowness; any creature that can reproduce has a drive to do so, though the ability to tame it reasonably separates men from beasts.

What 5 felt for her followed no logic at all. Everyone had been bothered by 6's outburst the other night, but not 5. Something blinded him from the clear truth in front of him, and it was unlike anything else she had ever seen or sensed. At least, not directed at her. She had seen love in the other clans—between other husbands and wives, children and parents, brothers and sisters. It was clear and present in this one, as well; it pulsed strong and loud among them. But it had never been aimed at her before. She wondered if she should relish in it; but given her current task, and her bond to Alpha, she wasn't sure what to do…

As if he had a sixth sense, enabling him to know when she was thinking about him, 5's dumb head suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Doing alright?" he asked. As if he had been away for hours, and she might be in desparate need of attention.

"Fine, thanks," she said with a smile, resuming her ruse. "Actually… Could you do something for me?"

"Of course. Anything."

That was an advantage. Given his infatuation, he couldn't seem to deny her anything.

"I'd like to speak to 1."

5 looked puzzled, and a little disappointed. "How come?"

"I've heard so many rumors… But I'd like to hear what he has to say, about things. I'm just trying to figure out what happened."

"Oh, I understand. I'll go find him for you, then. I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?"

"I'll be right here."

That had been all too easy. Much less than a few minutes had passed before 1 walked into the infirmary, and he was blessedly alone.

"You wanted to see me?" he asked starkly, not sounding pleased to be summoned like a puppy by an injured woman.

"I just had a few questions for you," she insisted sweetly, hoping to ease his temper. "About you."

"Oh, I see," he said thoughtfully. Surely, he wouldn't be upset about having to go on and on about himself. "What would you like to know?"

"About when you were the leader of this clan. Would you care to sit down?"

"I suppose I'll be here for a bit," he agreed, and sat down at the foot of the bed.

"Tell me what life was like back then," she prompted.

1 leaned back a bit and gazed off, gathering his thoughts and memories. "Well… It was a troubling time. A war was raging all around us, practically on our doorstep. My brother had fancied himself in some charge of our small group. But we had always been more like sparring partners than brothers."

"Really? You seem so close now."

"A lot has happened since then," he answered vaguely. "The role of leader fell to me. I was the only one capable of leading, at the time. Nearly half of us were next to useless; 2 was busy putting 5's head back together. (I still think sometimes, it would have been better if he had removed the boy's head entirely and been done with it.)"

Pi pretended to be amused by his joke; she got the feeling that, deep down inside, 1 hadn't been joking entirely.

"They didn't always follow you, though."

"No, they didn't," he said indignantly. "You see, the world was a much more dangerous place back then. And no matter how badly we wished to fight against it, it was simply too big for us to grapple with. The only real option was to retreat to safety, so we might live to see another day. For a time, they all agreed to that obvious reason; they were all tired, and battered, and scared. Even 7 was scared, then. I haven't seen her scared many times, so when she is, you know for certain that something is very wrong."

"What happened when they stopped agreeing?"

"Nothing but trouble. The war slowly ended, and the world appeared to be safe, but we learned the hard way that there were still mechanical dangers lurking out there. Things that were too small to be wiped out entirely. And those that survived hunted us like cats hunt mice—because they _were_ cats, really. We all saw the dangers, we all knew the risks. They were too high. It was safer inside, where they could never find us.

"But for many of them, the risk wasn't quite high enough. 2's infernal need to constantly build things drove him outdoors, put him right in harm's way all the time. And of course, 7 was vain and stubborn enough to think she could stand against any monster that dared attack her."

"Was she ever proven wrong? Is that how her back got so torn up?"

1 was silent for a moment, rubbing his neck guiltily. "…To her credit, no. She bested every monster that got in her way; and several that came unwittingly into her range. I'm afraid that the one to blame for her injuries was… Me."

"You? How?"

"It was in the fall of the second year. I remember… I was late afternoon. The sun was setting, and it was already very chilly. 7 had grown a habit of sneaking out of Sanctuary without me knowing when she left or when she came back, and it never failed to make me furious. That afternoon, 8 had been lucky enough to catch her and drag her back to me for…punishment."

"Is this difficult to talk about?"

"Well… You're a bright young lady; I'm certain that you can guess the rest."

"I'd like to know."

1 blanched, peeved that she was pressing him. But now that he had started, he seemed convicted to finish his dark tale. Perhaps he had never spoken of it to anyone else but himself. Perhaps he found solace in finally being able to confide it in someone.

"It was rather delicious," he recalled blankly. "Finally, I had _caught_ someone in an act of defiance, and was in full rights to levy some sort of penalty. I disliked the girl so badly then, and was at my wits end with her utter, blatant rebelliousness. In that moment, the only punishment I would have turned down was death—only because there were so few of us. Her incredible strength and her impressive battle skills made no matter to me. Only the reason and the practicality of keeping her alive for the time being. That was the only thing keeping me from having her fool head sliced off her shoulders."

Pi wasn't used to being told a story this intriguing. This wasn't just an old human fairy tale, or the mythology of the gods of old. This had _really_ happened once. She forgot to be shocked, or nervous, or anything else that was fitting for the part she was playing. She leaned a little closer, rapt by the darkness of the story.

"Go on. I'm listening."

"Must I, girl?"

"I'm not a little girl. I'm a grown woman, and I want to hear the rest. Please, continue."

To that, 1 looked a little suspicious; but he was still on a roll, and so he continued with a heavy sigh.

"The one thing that hasn't changed after all this time is that 8 has always looked to me for direction, and for command. And that evening, when I ordered him to beat her was no exception. He picked up his largest sword and attacked her without even blinking or stopping to consider that they were brother and sister. But 7 was still armed with a spear, and she has always been quite handy with those. She managed to fend him off for a while, but…"

"He got her, eventually," Pi guessed, slowly letting her faked sweetness melt away.

"He kicked her legs out from beneath her, and she fell flat on her face. Before she could do anything about it, he raised his sword and slashed her three times across the back. And I might have let him continue, but… You weren't there to hear how she screamed. I had never head 7 scream until that moment, and it was horrifying, even to me. I ordered him to stop, but it was entirely too late to go back. The damage had already been done.

"It was weeks until she was able to walk again. Whether she would be able to fight or even carry a weapon again was unclear for a time. But shortly after she could carry herself again, she vanished. She fled in the middle of the night, and I never saw her again—not until 9 showed up, anyway, nearly three years later."

"And that was when everything really changed."

"In retrospect, his coming was a blessing that I was too blind and proud to recognize," he continued with a shrug. "I was born an old man, and the long years of silence had worn me thinner than I had known. They needed a strong, courageous young man like 9 in charge. I hadn't the energy to compete with his enthusiasm. Struggling against him the way I did proved to be a futile waste of energy."

"But you tried."

"My way was one of fear and desperation for safety. But the thing that was unleashed, it took away all hope of safety. I had to be fought against. He saw that immediately, while I refused."

"Surely, 8 continued to follow your leadership."

"And it all but led to his doom."

Using her good leg, Pi slid forward until she was sitting dangerously close to him. "I would have followed you," she said quietly, as seductively as she dared yet.

"No, you would not have," 1 retorted with a scoff. "You would have done the young thing, and followed 9, like all the others. What is a withered, tired, frightened old man compared to him?"

"You were only trying to protect them. You were trying to keep them safe, and alive, and he led them headlong into danger. Many of them died at his hands, including your brother. It was all his fault that that monster was a problem in the first place. You were being wise, you were doing the _right_ thing. If only he hadn't shown up and ruined everything, led them astray, made you look like an idiot in front of everyone—"

"Everything would have been fine!" he snarled before she could finish. "He walked into my stronghold as it were his, and ripped my title and my power from beneath me, and he never _once_ gave me a fighting chance! Who does that boy presume to be?"

That hidden rage had boiled straight to the surface, as Pi had hoped it might. It was indeed there, and it was very much alive in the old man's heart, more than just a reminder of who he used to be. But, as suddenly as it had surfaced, it subsided.

"I'm sorry, Pi," he said, sitting back a little. "I shouldn't say such things to you—to anybody. I don't know why I said that."

She slid her arms around his shoulders and pulled him a little closer. "You say these things because you know they are true," she whispered in his ear. "No matter how much you try to deny it, you were the only one who was wronged. And deep inside, you know it."

"No, it's not true. I'm not that man anymore."

"But you _could_ be," she insisted, letting her hand trail down his side. "You could take that back, take charge of your life like any man would. You could be a leader again."

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"And if no one else would listen to you," she continued, leaning closer still, "I would. I would follow you to any end."

"…Really?"

"If you only try. If you try to take charge now, I'll let you. I'll do anything you ask of me."

"Truly? Anything?"

"_Anything_."

Experience had proven that this was all it usually took to ensnare a man. Pointing out that there were things he had no control over; making him believe that he had no control over anything in his life; and offering him a chance to control, _her_, as if it would make the whole world suddenly right itself. All it took was a few minutes of such close contact to work her dark magic, weave her web, and trap her sacrifice until she chose to release him. It was an easy trick to play on any man—convincing him that he held total control over her, and so somehow over everything else she said was wrong with his life; when the reality was that she held all the cards and wielded a more supreme power than he could have conceived.

And 1 was proving to be an excellent example of that dark truth. At this point, when she had all but reached her goal, going on teasing him like this was stupid. She pressed her mouth against his, an excellent charade of passion and interest. For a long moment he was frozen, confused by her words and fazed by her actions; but when he realized what was happening, he didn't resist. He melted right into her, walking directly into her perfectly laid trap.

Most amusing of all, she had him convinced that this was somehow his doing. This whole situation had been thrust into his unsuspecting hands; he had practically been forced to accept it, once again not given a fighting chance. Yet he thought that he had orchestrated it all. Either that, or he perceived himself as incredibly lucky to be sitting there, making out with a beautiful woman who had offered to do anything he asked of her.

He was so vain, at heart. Aged as he was, he was a _perfect_ sacrifice.

Therefore, she was extremely surprised when her control over him suddenly broke. As she drew breath between poison kisses, she began weaving the words of a spell her creator had taught her. The words were of an old language that common men no longer spoke or understood; their only use today was for dark, sinister purposes—like Pi's. But as she spoke them, 1 pulled away and stared at her hard.

"…What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing," she insisted, trying to pull him back, recapture him, and resume the spell. Instead of simply doing as she said, he jumped to his feet and backed away.

"I know those words," he gasped. "Words of the dark arts. How do you know them? What do you mean, using them on me? What are you playing at?"

That had been unexpected for so many reasons. How had he recognized the words of her spell and what they were for? How could she have guessed he would recognize them at all? And how had this realization empowered him so? He had single-handedly broken free of her hold. The same fear that should have doomed him had just saved his life in the same instant.

Whatever the answers to these questions, 1 had proven himself far too clever and amazingly strong for a suitable sacrifice, after all. And he had seen entirely too much of what she really was. He couldn't be allowed to walk around with this knowledge, telling people about it. Fully aware that all traces of her sweet false-self had vanished, she reached out her hand, fingers aimed at his head, and uttered a different spell.

Whenever she was forced to use her mind-wiping spell, it always seemed like it drained a space of light; everything turned a few shades darker, casting everything in shadow as she spoke. It was a stunningly simple spell, taking only seconds to complete. Simple, efficient, elegant in its purpose. She reached into 1's mind and pulled back all his memories of the past few minutes, feeling their energy flow into her fingertips. She felt their energy materialize in her hand and solidify. And in a single gesture, she crushed them like glass.

_And that's the end of that._

The spell complete, the room regained its light. 1 looked impossibly confused, his eyes darting around the room as he tried to regain clarity. While he wasn't paying attention, Pi resumed her façade and pretended to look concerned.

"1, are you alright?"

"Huh—What?" he asked, as if he had just noticed her for the first time.

"Are you alright, I asked. You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I feel as though I've been touched by one," he said vaguely, rubbing his temple. "I… I have no idea what just happened… Why did I come in here?"

"I was going to ask you some questions, but maybe now isn't a good time."

"You were…? I thought you already did. I thought I was answering them… What just happened to me?"

"Maybe you should lie down, 1. You look terrible."

"Perhaps I should," he agreed slowly, and backed toward the door. But he never took his eyes off her, as if he expected her to pounce on him if he let his guard down.

She had erased his mind well enough. But the memory wasn't entirely forgotten. He still knew something…

As he moved to run away down the hall, he made a surprised sound.

"Oh! …Don't just lurk in doorways, fool! A person could trip over you. And stop staring at me like that."

Oh no. Had someone seen them.

"Who's that? 1, who's out there?"

But there was no answer. He had already put plenty of distance between them; and if anyone _had_ seen them, she supposed they certainly weren't going to speak up. Feeling strange—defeated and embarrassed by her first lost target—she scooted back to her pillow and flopped back, scowling at the ceiling.

_Surely, it was only a fluke. Oh well. Back to the drawing board: one down, eight to go…_

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Just outside the infirmary, 6 had plastered himself in terror against the wall. Sheer terror filled his small form, from his wooden toes to the tips of his tangled hair. He hadn't known fear like this in a very long time; not since the Machine had been charging after him. From the second he had seen Pi, he had sensed something strange about her. Something _bad_-strange. And when he had touched her…

Evil. Pure evil. It had seared through him like a needle steeped in flame. She smiled, she laughed, she pretended to take benevolent interest in them. But all of her sweetness was a lie. She was here to do some terrible thing. What that terrible thing might be, 6 couldn't begin to guess. But what did it matter? She was here to hurt them. She had to go. _Soon_.

But at least his warning hadn't fallen on deaf ears this time. When Pi had asked to speak with 1, everybody present had been suspicious. 1 had gone, all the same; but 2 refused to leave him alone with her. He was so reliable, that way; but 6 wished that he had chosen someone else to keep watch over his brother. Blinded 5 could have used this revelation more.

But 5 was clunky and cumbersome, and would have been noticed at once. If 6 was anything, he was nondescript and easy to not notice. He had stood beside the door, peering into the infirmary the whole time 1 had been inside. And he had seen everything.

Everything.

He had to do something. He had to tell them what had happened. But he was afraid. 2 would listen to him, as he always had. But 1's memory had been erased; what if he refused to believe that something so fantastic could happen to him? And 5… 5 hadn't listened before. In fact, he had scolded him for getting so upset. He thought he loved her. He wouldn't listen. Probably not even if the truth tore his other eye off his head.

9 would listen. 9 was their leader. He could make her leave, if he knew there was a problem. Maybe he didn't understand any better than the rest of them did, but 6 had opened his easily distracted eyes before. He could do it again.

Everything was going to be alright. Pi was going to leave, and everything would be alright. He just knew it.


	9. Enchanted

I'm sure you've all noticed that Pi is now the cover for this story. Isn't it exciting! I love that Stitchpunks are so easy to draw in paint! :D

This whole chapter is… in 8's pov. It has turned out to be quite a thing. Mostly because 6 can't stay out of everyone's hair. :P

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_Enchanted_

2222222222

8 couldn't help but feel very excited. 7 was feeling well enough to bring the baby into the common room for the first time. He wasn't the only one of them who hadn't seen 10 yet; 6 hadn't seen her, either, though he certainly seemed to be worried about her. 8 wondered what was going on with his little brother, and if he had seen some sort of bad vision about the baby. He hoped this wasn't the case…

Pi also hadn't seen the baby yet. And frankly, 8 sort of preferred it that way. He hadn't really thought about it until the night 10 had been born, when 6 freaked out in front of everyone and used him for a shield. But once his brother mentioned it… Yeah, there was something about Pi that gave him the creeps. He had no idea why; she seemed like such a sweet, nice young girl, and she was very pretty. It didn't seem possible, for someone so pretty to be so bad.

But the more he thought about it—admittedly, a bit of a strain—the more he felt a strong, seeping _badness_ radiating from her. But he had no clue what it meant, or what he was supposed to do about it, so he chose to remain silent, as always. Instead, he focused on his excitement. After a long, surreal week without his sister or his leader around, he would finally get them back. And he would finally meet 10, his niece.

Only six of them were in the common room, yet, sort of divided into three convenient groups. 1 and 2 were sitting on the sofa against the wall, carrying on a fairly pleasant conversation about something or another. 5 and Pi were sitting by the fire, and he was attempting to engage her, but every topic he brought up was dropped after a few exchanges. She didn't really seem interested in anything he had to say—in fact, she looked ready to snap and slap him soundly if he didn't stop soon. But he was oblivious, and went on trying, anyway.

8 and 6 sat together against the far wall in companionable silence, talking not being a hobby of theirs. However, given this second chance, they were attempting to change that.

"Are you excited?" he asked his little brother.

"Yeah," 6 answered quietly, the nod of his head more of an answer than his voice. "And you?"

"Yeah. Real excited," he agreed.

Eh… That felt like a pretty good conclusion to that conversation. 8 was considering saying something else, but his line of thought was interrupted by the twins dashing in, looking over the state of the room.

"_Everything's off the floor, right?"_

"_If mama tripped carrying the baby, it would be a nightmare."_

"The floor is clean, my dears," 2 informed them gently. "We picked everything up earlier."

"_Oh, thank goodness,"_ 4 said with a grateful sigh, and then proceeded to shoo 1 and 2 off the sofa. _"Go on, get up, make room."_

"Whatever for?" 1 demanded, sounding a little miffed.

"_They're putting Dixie down here, so everyone can see her."_

At this, 5 immediately lit up. "We're calling her Dixie now?"

"_Sure. It was your idea, silly,"_ the girl answered with a smile. _"That's half of why they liked the name 10 so much."_

9 walked in as 4 finished speaking, a couple of blankets over one arm, looking amused at how earnest the twins were being. 3 stood at attention before him with a very serious face.

"_I think the room is pretty baby-proof, dad."_

"She can't go any farther than the sofa yet, 3," 9 answered with a smile.

"_But she's too smart! She'll be running all over the place soon. We have to get ready now!"_

"Alright, whatever you say, son," he agreed, patting the boy on the head. 7 came in right behind him, cradling a squealing, wriggling bundle in her arms.

"Tada," she sang proudly. "Here she is." 9 gave her a loving smile, and then knelt beside the sofa, arranging the blankets in a little nest. When he was out of the way, 6 got up first and crept forward, in his cautiously curious way.

"Look, 6," 7 said sweetly, stooping a bit so he could see. "This is my baby."

His eyes were wide as he marveled at the tiny Stitchpunk—probably the smallest in the world. 8 couldn't see her face, but he heard her squeal in wonder at the first sight of her uncle. Of everyone she had met so far, 6 was surely the strangest; he didn't look like a part of their family at all. He wondered if her little baby brain was capable of processing that, or even comprehending it. But then, maybe everything around her seemed just as new and foreign, each new thing as strange as the last. Maybe she just accepted 6 and his strangeness, and loved him without even bothering to think about it.

While 6 admired the child, 4 came up beside him and held his hand.

"_I told you she was pretty. Isn't she the most beautiful thing you ever saw?"_

Instead of nodding, he looked up at 4 and kind of bobbled his head from side to side, maybe a yes, maybe a no, maybe something in between. 8 could guess what his brother wanted to say—that _she_ was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. But his very nature kept him quiet. Somehow, he also got the feeling that 4 knew, anyway.

8 finally got up and came to stand with the rest of them. Since he towered over 7, she held the baby up at a slight angle for him to see, without depriving anyone else of the view.

"Wow, look at these goofy-looking guys, Dixie," she said. "They're those uncles I've been telling you about. See this big guy? 8 is my big brother, like 3 is _your_ big brother. What do you think of that, baby?"

Gosh, 10 really was beautiful, for a baby. But 8 wasn't entirely surprised, since it was his beautiful sister's child. Only her little round face and her arms were visible, and they were made of stark white canvas. She was like a miniature version of 7, from what he could see; but it was his understanding that she was burlap from the waist down.

10 regarded him with the same wondrous look he imagined 6 had gotten. He wondered if his size intimidated her at all, but she didn't seem frightened in any way. In fact, she cooed loudly at him, as if to say hello, pleased to meet you. To his surprise, she extended her little baby arm toward him, reaching for him.

"If you'd like to let her grab your finger, you may," 7 informed him gently. "Just as long as you don't mind her sticking it in her mouth."

Oh, he was allowed to actually _touch_ her? Having his sister's permission felt like being bestowed a great privilege and honor. Mindful of his largeness, and the relative smallness of his niece, he slowly lifted his hand towards hers. Apparently, 10 was thrilled; as soon as he was close enough, her little hand shot out with a speed and a strength that 8 hadn't expected. It startled him, and he jumped back in surprise. 10 was startled by _his_ sudden movement and, also looking a little disappointed, began to cry a little.

7 shook her head gently, exasperated and amused with her brother, and reached for his hand.

"Like this, silly," she said, guiding his hand back towards her daughter's. As soon as his hand was close enough, the baby reached up and snatched one of his fingers in a herculean grip. Her itty bitty little hand couldn't even reach all the way around his one big finger; but she held on so tightly, it didn't matter. For a few seconds, she marveled with wide eyes at this enormous new set of fingers, as if they were the most amazing thing she had seen in her short life.

Then she surprised him yet again by fitting his whole knuckle into her little mouth; he kind of couldn't believe that she could still breathe around it. Still gazing intently at him with her huge, gleaming eyes, she started sucking in his knuckle as hard and loudly as she could. It tickled a little, and he fought back the urge to laugh too loud, or pull his hand back, or anything else that might frighten her.

7 smiled up at him. "Fancy that: someone as big as you, frightened by a little baby," she mused. "She likes you already, see?"

8 kind of didn't hear her speaking; he was focused too deeply on 10 to notice anything else around him. He returned her mesmerizing gaze, looking her straight in her huge, jewel-like eyes. He felt like he was having a silent conversation with her, something that was between the two of them—him and his niece—and no one else. What a delightfully enchanting little girl.

After another minute, 10 got tired of sucking on his finger, and released him. 7 carried her to the sofa and sat down, carefully setting her down in the nest of blankets. Apparently, 10 didn't like leaving her mother's arms, because she started crying softly again.

"Ooh, look what we have here," she said when the baby began to fuss. "Look what daddy's made for you, so you won't fall off the sofa. He must love you an awful lot to do something like that, huh?"

At the word "daddy", 10 stopped fussing, and her eyes darted back and forth until she spotted 9, still sitting on the floor. She squealed and flailed around excitedly, thrilled to have found him. He reached up and let her grab his ring finger as she went on flapping her arms.

"What are you doing?" he chuckled. "Are you going to fly away? Are you taking me with you? Where will we go? What are we going to find there?"

"Questions, questions," 7 teased, unwrapping 10's blanket; she had been flailing so hard, she had already kicked it most of the way off. "She'll be asking plenty of her own, soon. Then _you'll_ be the one being constantly pummeled with questions, and we're all going to laugh at you."

9 gave her a bright, excited smile. "Good. I can't wait."

8 and 6 stood at the end of the sofa, peering down at 10's whole self for the first time. Her closure was a small safety pin; even though it was one of the tiniest safety pins 8 had ever seen (and he wondered how 9 had managed to find something so specific), it was still half as big as the baby, herself. As they had been told, her chubby legs were made of dark burlap, and so were her feet. And so were her hands, now that they looked closely at them.

8 mentally thanked his brother and sister for crafting their baby's digits from cloth instead of wood or metal. A grip like hers with such hard material would have been painful and begged for all sorts of trouble. But today, she was soft enough for any of them to handle safely. While her parents continued to play with her fingers and toes, 2 came and sat on the other end of the sofa.

"Any amazing changes in the last few days?" he asked.

"She's trying to laugh, now," 7 answered. "When we play with her, you can tell that she's amused; she's learning to make faces and sounds that fit her mood."

"Already? I hadn't expected such behavior for another week or two."

"Our baby's advanced," 9 informed proudly. "It seems like she does _everything_ a week earlier than she's supposed to. She's probably a genius."

"Which wouldn't surprise anyone at all."

"You know what else she's already doing? Labeling things."

"What do you mean?"

"She can't speak yet; but she only makes certain sounds for certain things. She has her own words for 7 and I, and they sound almost exactly alike. But there's the _barest_ difference in pitch between the two, and it makes all the difference."

"So she _can_ speak," 7 concluded, fiddling with 10's toes. "We just don't speak her language, and she doesn't speak ours. But she's figuring out how to communicate out loud, and she's figuring it out quickly. I'll bet she'll be speaking clear, whole words in a month or two."

"Astounding. Simply astounding," 2 marveled, leaning over into 10's line of sight and giving her a great big smile. "Oh, hello there, blessed. You remember your old granddad, don't you? Your granddad, who delivered you into this world? That was quite a night, wasn't it? Oh, and just look at you now, already so brilliant, just like your daddy. Ah, you're going to be trouble, one of these days."

While 2 went no talking to the baby, 6 plunked himself at his sister's feet.

"2, when should she start walking?" 9 asked from the floor.

"Probably not too long after she starts to talk."

"9?"

"Talking before walking, huh? At least she won't be able to follow me around with her questions for a while."

"9?"

"Relish it, my boy. If she's anything like you, her first whole sentence will be some sort of inquiry, and a darned good one, at that."

"9?"

"I hope that she asks lots of questions. I want her to be curious, I want her to want to know things. And I want to be there to teach her. My own father wasn't there to answer any of my questions—"

"9?"

"Yes, 6, what is it?" 9 finally asked.

"I need to tell you some things."

"About what?"

"About Pi. All about Pi. You must listen to me."

"Not the best idea in the world right now," 7 said warily, and slid off the sofa to join her brother on the floor. She crossed her legs and pulled 6 into her lap, holding him tight around the shoulders and running her fingers through his hair.

"No! You must listen to me!" 6 insisted, sounding impatient and a little worried.

"Shh," she interrupted, using her crossed legs like a rocking chair to gently rock him back and forth. "Not now, 6, not now."

"But, but, you—"

"Later, little brother. We'll talk about this later. I promise, okay?"

6 struggled a little more, but eventually resigned himself to wait patiently for his turn.

"But, you, I, but, I, but, but, you, I, okay."

7 smiled at him, even though he couldn't see; but there was definitely concern behind her smile. She looked up at the twins, who had moved out of everyone's way and fallen silent watching them.

"How about the two of you go on to the globe. Your father and I will be there in a little bit to say goodnight, okay?" To this, the twins nodded reluctantly and left. With them out of the way, she turned her attention back to 6. Still rocking him and stroking his hair, she began to hum quietly to further soothe his nerves.

"Remember you used to sit in my lap like this, when we lived in Sanctuary?" she said after she'd only hummed a few bars of her song. "You called it the sister-chair, remember? Maybe 4 will do this for Dixie when she's older, and she can have a sister-chair, just like you."

6 nodded vaguely, and 7 resumed her humming. It soothed him so well that he rested his head against the crook of her arm and fell asleep within minutes. When she realized that he was sleeping, she sighed sort of sadly and looked up at her husband.

"It never fails," she said quietly. "Whenever he had nightmares, I would do this for him. That could have been several times a night, sometimes. I think, after a time, the sister-chair just became part of a routine that he followed."

"He does like a certain order to things," 9 agreed.

"It just became instinct to him. And now, whenever it's me, it's like his whole mind and body just shut down and he goes to sleep, because that's what the sister-chair is for. He can never just enjoy it, now."

"He must enjoy it, 7. You take such good care of him; you make him feel safe."

"Oh… You're right."

While all of that was happening, 8 looked up and realized that 5 hadn't joined them yet. He was still sitting by the fire with Pi, who had suddenly taken an interest in something he was saying. And 1 was standing apart from the rest of them, as well. He stood in the middle of the space with a resolute look on his face. To 8, he looked like some kind of grand guardian or gatekeeper, monitoring some unseen portal between where Pi was, and where 10 was.

1 knew something that the rest of them didn't. Alright, 6 probably knew whatever it was, as well. But what was it they weren't saying, or trying to say? And what was going on with 5, that he would be so distant? He couldn't have grown tired of the baby, could he? He was being so unlike his social, loyal, dorky self. For one of the few times in his life, it occurred to 8 to be very concerned for one of his brothers.

But he had no idea how to bring it up in front of the others, so he decided to maintain his silence. Instead, he returned his attention to 10, leaning over the side of the sofa and tickling the bottom of her foot, sending her into another flail-fit.

"Now we're even, Dixie," he rumbled.

"Hey, everyone."

They all looked up to see that 5 had finally joined them. But he hadn't sat down yet.

"There you are," 7 greeted him. "What's kept you so long? We've missed you."

"Oh, I thought I'd give the big guy some space to see the baby," 5 dismissed with a wave of his hand. "There are enough people over here, without me getting under everyone's feet."

"That's not true," 9 said, sounding hurt that his brother would think such a thing. "There's always room over here for you, 5."

"I had also been talking with Pi," 5 continued, changing the subject. "She had hoped she could see 10."

To this, 9 and 7 exchanged a very uncertain look. Was 5 _really_ the only one of them who wasn't totally creeped out by her? They clearly didn't want her near their baby… But what were they supposed to say? 7 gave her husband a brief nod, trusting him to make the best call for their family. 9 thought about it for a moment, and…

"I suppose it's okay," he said slowly, a very disapproving note in his voice. If 5 caught it, he didn't let it show. He dashed back to the fireplace and helped Pi to her feet, letting her use his shoulder for a crutch. As they limped past 1, he cast Pi a suspicious, stony glare. He didn't like this, either. Once again, whether 5 was oblivious or staunchly ignoring them was hard to tell.

When she came near, 8 felt a shiver run down his spine. He didn't like her being this close to the baby, any more than the others did. 10 didn't seem to like it either. Her eyes fixed on the newcomer, unable to look away, and she began to cry fearfully, flailing her arms and legs again. 9 hopped to his feet and scooped his child up, trying to comfort her.

"No, no, my precious girl, don't cry," he said gently. "Daddy's here, daddy's right here with you. Everything's just fine."

8 didn't doubt that. There was no safer place than her father's arms; 9 would never let anything bad touch her. Pi didn't seem to understand that she was the one causing the problem, and reached out her hand without an invitation.

"I'm sorry," she said demurely. "I just wanted to see—"

She hadn't even touched her yet, and 10 suddenly began to scream in what must have been terror. 9 clutched the screaming baby to his chest and turned her away, using himself as a shield, but never taking his eyes off of Pi for one second. Everyone else was just as horrified as he was. Even 6 was stirring a little in his deep sleep; if he woke up, who knew what he was going to do.

Pi retracted her hand at once, looking as alarmed as the rest of the clan. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "9, I'm so sorry."

She looked sorry enough. But looks can be deceiving. 8 couldn't bring himself to believe her.

"I think it's time you went to bed, Pi," 9 answered defensively.

Instead of protesting that she wasn't a child to be sent to bed so easily, she just nodded obediently. "I think you're right," she said placidly. Recognizing his queue, 5 helped her turn and hobble to the door, looking more confused and disbelieving than alarmed. How unusually quiet he had been on the matter…

"5, you're coming back, aren't you?" 7 asked from the floor.

"Of course, sis. I'll be right back," he assured her as he and Pi vanished into the hall. Once they were gone, 10 calmed down considerably, but she was too frightened to stop crying altogether. As much as she wanted to, 7 saw that she couldn't stay on the floor, cuddling her sleeping brother. She stood up, dumped 6 on the sofa as gently as she could, and took her child back.

"There, there, my little love," she whispered, discretely adjusting her catch so 10 could nurse. "Mommy's here, too. We won't let anything hurt. You're safe here."

10 latched onto her mother's catch at once, and was finally comforted enough to quiet down. Relieved, 7 sank down beside 6, being careful not to sit on him. She looked up at her husband with worry in her bright eyes.

"9, what just happened?"

"I don't know," he admitted, sounding upset and ashamed of himself for putting formalities above the safety of his child. But how was he supposed to know this would happen? It didn't matter, because he was supposed to protect her. He looked down at 6, still deeply asleep. He knelt back down and patted his brother on the head.

"In the morning, 6 and I are going to have a nice long chat about this," he decided. "2, how much longer until she can walk again?"

"It would have been sooner, had we been better supplied. I had planned to operate tomorrow morning, now that I have some tools to work with," the old man answered apologetically.

"And for her to recover?"

"Perhaps another week."

"It's taken all of us half that time to recover from injuries like that."

"Pi is a delicate young lady; she isn't sturdy or strong like us. But then, she may surprise us. I wish I could tell you now, but I simply can't. There are too many variables."

"I wish I knew right now…"

"Patience, my boy, Baby steps. We'll deal with the operation in the morning, and then cross those other bridges when we come to them. And in the meantime, you are in excellent charge of this clan. You'll keep us safe."

"2… Who or _what_ is she?"

2 sighed heavily and looked down at the floor. "I… I don't know."

It wasn't in 8's general nature to be curious or so badly concerned about things; but tonight, he was both. And, more true to his nature, was angry—and therefore determined to get to the bottom of this in his own way. What if they couldn't wait for tomorrow? Sure, his way was a little violent. But it would get something accomplished right now. He silently stalked out of the room with no one noticing him.

Except, one of them noticed…

As he lumbered down the dark hall toward the infirmary, he crashed into 5, and they both nearly fell over. When 5 righted himself and saw who he had bumped into, he made a face.

"Off to bed?" he asked nervously.

"…Yeah, off to bed," he agreed.

"A little early, isn't it?"

To that, 8 snorted loudly in his face, warning him to save pestering questions for someone with more patience. 5 got the hint and reluctantly slunk away. 8 continued down the hall, cracking his knuckles as he went, preparing himself for an epic confrontation.

If that Pi intended to hurt his little niece, or anyone else in his family, she would have to go through _him_, first.

He barged right into the infirmary, and caught Pi with her forehead bowed against a big black stone in her hands, whispering to it. Crazy, as well as bad news, he thought. She looked up at once, very surprised to see him.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, sounding a little frightened.

"I want you gone," he growled, advancing on her without caring how scary he was. "We _all_ want you gone."

"Please, don't hurt me."

"Why shouldn't I?" he demanded, leaning menacingly over her.

"No, 8, listen to me," she insisted calmly, reaching up to caress his face. "Surely, we can work something out, you and I."

Her touch felt like it was burning him, but not like it had burned 6 before. It was kind of nice. It reminded him of the sensation he got from using his magnet—part of his brain shut off, and he forgot for a long, pleasant moment why he had come in here in the first place…

But the distraction passed, and his anger returned twofold. First she terrorizes his family, and then turns around and starts flirting with him? How dare she! He had half a mind to tear her head off her body, right then and there. He growled a warning, hoping that she was as afraid of him as they were of her, but she didn't seem fazed at all.

"Now, now, 8, you wouldn't hurt a pretty girl, would you?" she said sweetly. The pleasant, tingling feeling continued as she ran her hand down his neck and over his shoulder. "You've seen how happy your sister is with her man, right? Haven't you ever wondered what that's like?"

He wasn't sure how Pi was so good at distracting him, but somehow her sweetly spoken words made a lot of sense in his suddenly fuddled mind. He supposed that, as an afterthought, he had always wondered what that kind of love was like. But he had never seriously considered it, because, really. There were no other women around. And even if there were, who would want to love a big, dumb brute like him?

She gripped the strap on his chest and pulled him dangerously close to her face. "I could show you what that's like, 8. Come on. Let me show you."

He couldn't find the presence of mind to resist as she pressed her lips against his. He honestly had no idea what was happening anymore, but it felt… Exquisite. Just… Wow. Was this what it was like to be loved? It was amazing. No wonder 7 and 9 were always so happy.

7 and 9, huh…? And 10. And the others. No! Reality hit him in the face. This was just another one of her tricks! Whatever she had done to 5, he couldn't let her do it to him, as well. He pushed her away as violently as he could and backed away, wiping his mouth on the back of his arm. He would probably have to have them cut off, later.

But for now, his rage was too great to be put aside any longer. Maybe he would just snap her pretty neck and be done with it. He prepared to charge at her, and she gave him a furious glare. He had never seen such an ugly look on her face before.

"You too, huh?" she growled, and cast her fingers at his head. "So be it."

Everything that had just happened flashed through his mind in reverse, and his head began to spin. And then, all at once… Nothing.

8 blinked his eyes and looked around the room, completely confused. He had been in the common room, with his family, mere seconds ago. What was he doing in the infirmary? And _when_ did he get there? He didn't remember walking down here. What on earth just happened?

"8? Are you okay?"

He was alone with Pi, and that was a little frightening. Whatever had brought him here without realizing it, it must have had something to do with her. She looked concerned, but he refused to believe that she really was. He walked backwards to the door, not daring to look away from her.

"Did you want something?" she asked. He shook his head vehemently.

"6 was right about you," he mumbled, and ran out the door down the hall.

Halfway back to the common room, he tripped over his own feet and landed face-down on the floor, feeling dizzy and out of breath. It was so dark. He still wasn't sure where he was, or what was happening. He shivered intensely. He was suddenly so scared.

A bright light exploded into his vision, momentarily blinding him. When he looked up and his vision cleared, he was beyond relieved to see 1 kneeling beside him with a lit match in hand. He placed his free hand on the giant's shoulder, his weathered presence solid and reassuring.

"Get up, 8. This is unsightly."

8 wasn't sure what "unsightly" meant, but he pulled himself together and slowly got to his feet, with 1's help. The old man looked up at him with a stern expression.

"8, listen to me very carefully. _Don't_ go near her again," he said darkly.

He nodded slowly, wordlessly. He would be glad to never have to look at that strange girl ever again. 1 took him by the arm and led him back toward the common room.

"Come. Let us go back with the others, where there's more light," he said gently. Yes, indeed. He knew something deep and terrible. But 8 was so confused, he didn't care to know what it was.

The match suddenly went out, leaving them in darkness. But there was warm, comforting light ahead of them, guiding them back to safety.


	10. Emboldened

I'm not going to fuss and fret over the page length anymore. Ultimately, it's the word count that matters. We've broken 6,000 today! Not bad! :D

I've seen several covers of a certain joke in this fandom: "Why was 6 afraid of 7? Cuz 7, 8, 9! Hahahahahaha!" None of these covers are particularly good, and most of them make no sense. And I have promised a certain young lady that I would do a cover of my own, and make it out of awesome. There will be, er, _marital relations_ in this chapter; so let me remind you, this story is rated M for Mature for a very good reason.

Also, there will be drunkenness and anti-jokes in droves. Read on, if you dare. ;D

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_Emboldened_

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It was early, early in the morning. Her operation was to take place later in the morning; but for now, Pi was wide awake. 2 had a habit of waking up incredibly early, and she wanted a chance to speak to her master alone, before anyone was awake to see her. She took the onyx sphere from her body cavity, and felt Alpha's voice ring impatiently in her head.

_Pi, what happened last night was a disaster! Never before have you lost a target, and now you've had to wipe not one, but __two__ memories in the space of a week! How have you allowed this to happen?_

"I'm not sure," she grumbled, deeply shamed for failing her master. "Never before have my targets been so resilient. The other clans are nowhere near this surprising."

_What has stopped you these past few days from snatching that idiot 5, like I told you to?_

"Alpha… I can't. I just can't."

_Why not?_ His voice demanded angrily.

"There's something about that boy. Something in my very being won't allow me to be interested in him. He would do some terrible thing."

_That boy couldn't do anything __terrible__ if he tried. But if you insist, I suppose there's nothing I can do to force you, from this distance. What do you propose we do now, then, with your female fickleness getting in everyone's way?_

"The doctor is operating on my leg today. He gets so close, even for a simple checkup; he's a very snuggly, close sort of person. I may not even have to seduce him, for the spell to take root."

_I thought you said he was unsuitable. You said he has too much love in his heart. A weak sacrifice won't hold us for even a month, girl._

"I can take my chances. It's worth a try. We may be surprised—none of these people are what they seem."

_And if you fail __again__?_

"…I can keep trying."

With an aggravated snap, Alpha's connection broke. Being such a failure made Pi feel a little sick with herself. A fleeting thought of her sisters passed through her mind, and she hoped that Alpha wouldn't take out his anger on them.

_They'll be alright,_ she assured herself. _Delta will take care of them. She won't let him hurt the others. I'm sure of it._

She sat awake in bed, thinking about nothing in particular for another hour and a half. When 2 came in—punctual, as always, with his tool kit slung over his shoulder—he seemed surprised to see her up.

"You're up awful early," he noted. "Having trouble sleeping?"

"I suppose you could say that…"

Seeing that she didn't care to talk about it, he gave her his usual comforting smile. "Ready to get back on your feet, child?"

Pi stifled an annoyed groan, knowing that 2 could never be broken of that habit. He called everyone by some diminutive, even his brother, even the heroic Bearer. What exception was she? She nodded her head vigorously, instead. He set down his tool kit and began searching for the things he needed.

"You'll still need perhaps a week to fully recover, Pi; but the operation itself will be a simple affair, and you shouldn't be nervous. An hour is all it takes."

_Good,_ she thought, hoping her slyness wasn't visible in her sweet smile. _That's all the time I need._

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Something was still nagging in the back of 1's mind. Somewhere, something was up. Something he wasn't seeing, or couldn't remember. Something that should have been there, and clearly so, but was just tantalizingly beyond his grasp. Whatever it was, all he knew was that it was pointing directly at Pi. And he did not care for it, not one bit.

Suppose 6 knew what it was? Suppose he had, all along? If so, 9 had him alone today, and was drilling him for information. He had always been glad to listen to 6, when the rest of them had passed him off a crazy. That fearless leader of theirs would get to the bottom of things.

Therefore, as annoying as it was to be missing something, 1 chose not to be worried about it. Still, it forced him to pace around in the common room, lost in thought, trying to remember what it was he had forgotten. The common room was uncommonly quiet, today; he was the only one there, for a change. The common room was the center of their small community, and usually alive with some sort of activity. The twins playing chess. 9 studying by the fireplace. 7 sketching on the sofa. 5 and 2 building something, their tools scattered all across the floor…

Where _was_ 2, anyway? 1 could guess what the others could be doing with their free time about now. But 2 spent most of his free time here, building some mechanical thing or another. He had operated on Pi's leg earlier in the morning, but it was a simple procedure that usually took less than an hour to complete. The operation ought to have been long over by now, and he ought to have come straight to resume his work from the previous day.

So where was he?

1 didn't normally worry about his brother—he had cared very little for him, in the past. But the nagging suspicion he felt so strongly made him feel concerned. He couldn't explain why, but… For the first time in his life, he was suddenly very worried. Along with everything else that was wrong, something was definitely not right. Glad that no one was around to question his leaving, he stalked out down the hall toward the room that he shared with 2.

He opened the door to their room and stepped inside. Wow, he had never been so relieved to see his brother, sitting on the edge of his bed, solid, whole, and very real. But he looked numb, sort of shaken, and was staring blankly at the wall, or past the wall at nothing in particular. He didn't even seem to notice when 1 came in.

"Where have you been all morning?" he asked, trying to hide his concern behind his usual, demanding tone of voice. To this, 2 looked up in surprise, noticing him for the first time. But, seeing who it was, he relaxed, shook his head vaguely, and turned back to the wall without an answer.

"2… Are you alright?" This time, he couldn't help sounding worried. He was, and there was no way around it.

"Um… No…" the older brother mumbled, and wrapped his arms around himself as if he were freezing.

1 couldn't believe how truly, honestly worried he was. He walked to his own bed and pulled the blanket off the top. "What's the matter with you, then?"

"I… I don't know. I'm just… I feel… cold."

As he finished speaking, 1 threw his blanket around his brother and sat down beside him. 2 pulled it tight around himself and sighed heavily.

"…Thank you."

"What have you been doing all day?" 1 asked, feeling his brother's forehead. No fever. "Sitting here, staring at the wall for hours? You'll lose your mind that way."

"1, something's happened… And I don't know what it is, exactly. It happened so fast, I… I don't think I caught it in time. And now I'm just sitting here, wondering if it even happened at all."

"What do you suppose it is?"

"I couldn't begin to tell you."

He could sympathize with that. So much so, he reached up and patted his brother on the back.

"So, it's happened to you, as well."

2 slowly looked up to face him. "What do you mean?"

"It's already happened to me, a few nights ago. And it happened to 8, just last night. And now, it's happened to you."

While 2 processed this, 1 rested his face in his hands. "All I know is that it's got something to do with that girl. Whatever is happening to us, it is _her_ doing. I don't know how she's doing these things, or why. But there is something, deep inside me somewhere, that keeps whispering her name as a warning. It wants desperately for me to remember something about her… But I can't. Whatever it is, it simply isn't there to _be_ remembered."

"Well… What do you think we should do?"

To that, 1 could only shake his head. "I don't know… I don't know."

"You don't have to figure it out on your own. 9 is our leader now, and he'll take care of us. He'll make the right decisions."

"It isn't 9 I'm concerned about."

2 understood perfectly what he meant, and he wilted sadly. "He's being such an idiot," he lamented. "Can't he see how much he's hurting us?"

1 scoffed and rolled his eyes. "That boy of yours would jump off a cliff, if he thought it would impress Pi."

2 surprised him by scoffing as well. "It's about the only thing he hasn't tried yet…"

"I heard a week until she can walk out of here on her own, yes?"

"Yes. Hopefully, sooner."

"Seven days it is, then. We've spent a year in the Netherworld. How hard can it be, then, to weather a single week?"

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A few days had passed, and Pi had definitely noticed a change in her hosts. Now that her leg was mended and regained feeling, she could walk around without help, say for a crutch. Her leg was still very sore, and she found that putting too much pressure on it sent lightning bolts of pain coursing through her entire left side. But she was mobile again, and the soreness receded slightly with every day that passed. Soon, she would be able to limp around without the crutch. And then even the limp would fade away.

In the meantime, most of the fifth clan was making a very large point of avoiding her. If she had still been stuck in bed, she might not have noticed. But now that she could go wherever she wanted, she usually found herself in a room alone. Something had definitely changed with them. It was probably their stripy Prophet. He had probably blabbed everything he knew about her, and now they were all terrified to get anywhere near her. And that was aggravating. How was she supposed to pick out a new target now? In spite of their smallness, she had thought to perhaps target the young twins—both of them at once. But she simply couldn't get close to them, now.

Perhaps, when she could ditch the crutch, she could move after them better. They skittered around like insects, always just out of her reach. And it seemed that the Prophet was always hovering around them, standing watch. If only she could move quickly, she could lure them away from him and trap them easily. They were only children. How difficult could it be to ensnare mere children?

Now it was evening, and Pi was sitting alone in her bed in the infirmary. Even 5 had left her, to spend some time with his brothers and sister. He said they were worried about him for some reason, and wanted to reassure them that he was perfectly fine. Her sweet ruse had smiled and said she hoped he'd have fun with them. But her true self wanted to scream in his face that she didn't give a damn. At any rate, he was finally gone for a while, and she finally had some space to breathe. He hadn't given her a moment's peace in nearly three days. It was about time…

She thought about taking out her sphere and contacting Alpha, but he already knew what was going on with them. And if she chose to contact him, she would only admonish her for still not having a sacrifice secured yet. The other day when she had failed to catch 2, Alpha had yelled at her so cruelly that he made her cry. Pretending to be her sweet and optimistic false-self had been very difficult that day.

After a while, she heard footsteps in the hall, and voices carrying on a conversation, accompanied by 10's babyish babbling.

"Are you sure it's alright for her to be away from us for all night?" asked 7's silky voice.

"Certainly," answered 2's voice. "If she's old enough to be communicating with us, I dare say she's old enough to be away from her parents, so they can spend a few hours as a married couple. Besides, she'll be with 1 and me. And we've been dying for some time with our grandbaby."

"Even 1? Really?"

"Babies are enchanting creatures, my dear. He can't help himself."

"Well, if we can trust anyone, it's you. And I suppose we could use some time to be like normal adults—it would be the first time since before she was born. Thank you for looking after her."

"It's no trouble at all, 7. What were you and the boys planning on doing tonight, anyway?"

To that, 7 laughed a bit devilishly, as if she were up to something. "99 positive charges on the wall."

"Aha—you take one down, pass it around, 98 positive charges on the wall. I see. It's been a while since you've used a magnet. Will you be alright?"

"I can hold my charges just fine, thank you. And anyway, a positive charge doesn't affect me like it does them. And negatively charged magnets are so hard to come by."

"Thank goodness for that. A drunken stupor doesn't suit a lady, and it most certainly does not suit you, my dear girl. Just be careful, and look after them, if you can."

"I will, don't worry."

"That's my girl. Have fun, and enjoy yourself."

"Thank you again, daddy. We'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, my little love. Now you be a good girl and behave for granddad, okay?"

And with that, the conversation ended, and Pi heard them walk off in their separate directions. She suddenly couldn't help but feel a little left out. She'd have loved to get her hands on a quick positive charge, herself. And the chaos that would surely ensue would have been amusing to watch. But there was no way they would allow her into the common room to join them, so she resigned herself to a quiet, uneventful evening in. She lay back in her bed and shut her eyes, planning on sleeping dreamlessly until morning. Sleep was her drug of choice, anyway.

It might have been a few minutes later—though it was probably more like an hour or two—when she was suddenly woken by someone shaking her gently.

"Pi? Pi, come on, sleepy, open those pretty eyes," slurred an all too familiar voice. She slowly opened her eyes to see 5 hovering a little too closely over her, with an unusually doofy smile on his face.

"What do you want?" she groaned, pushing him out of her face.

"Oh wow, Pi. We're having just _entirely_ too much fun. Oh, Pi, you've—you've gotta come and do this with us."

Oh geez, the guy was even _more_ annoying when he was drunk. Pi considered shooing him out and going back to sleep… But if the others were as drunk as 5 was, maybe she could grab a few charges without them noticing her. Who knew? This might even be her golden opportunity to nab the Bearer.

If she could do that, the coven could live off of 9's substantial soul for months and months, maybe even a full year or more. And Alpha wouldn't be so angry at her for biding her time so long. How could she pass this up? She all but leapt out of bed, grabbed her crutch, and hobbled down the hall as 5 stumbled around alongside her in the dark.

_I hope you tripped a bunch of times on your way to the infirmary, you oaf._

The common room was lit by the fireplace, and only three others were present. 8 was holding a big horseshoe magnet in one hand, but was passing it around to 7, who sat on the floor beside 9, and they were all laughing like idiots over something. Pi wondered vaguely what could be so funny; but when you're as drunk as they clearly were, death could suddenly become the funniest thing in the world.

"Hey, look everyone," 5 announced loudly, throwing his arm around her shoulders. "I found another friend!"

"Yay!" 7 sang, holding the magnet over her head for a few seconds. "Friends are simply _terrific_! Who'd you find for us?"

"I brought Pi!"

"Really? That's great!" 9 cheered as loudly as he could. "Pie is delicious! We could always use some pie around here." He slumped over, thumped his head down on his wife's shoulder and whined, "7, why don't you ever make us any pie? Why is that?"

"I'm not your babysitter," she retorted, all but smacking him in the face with the magnet. "What do I look like to you? Some silly housewife? Make your own pie!"

He took the magnet from her, and turned back to his brother before taking his turn. "5, you tell that pie to sit down and have some fun with us for a bit—and maybe we'll all eat it later."

There were several alarming double entendres in that statement, but of course he was too far gone to realize it. 5 hauled her along to a vacant spot beside him and she carefully sat down, mindful of her leg. Now she wasn't sure if she wanted to take any charges she was offered. These four would be way more amusing to watch if she was completely sober.

"Oh, 5, you missed it," 9 slurred, waving the magnet around instead of passing it forward. "My silly wife, she told the best joke while you were gone!"

"Tell it again, sissy," 8 bumbled with puppy dog eyes.

"Who are _you_ calling sissy, sissy?" she vollied. "5, what's red and smells like blue paint?"

"I don't know, 7," he answered in a sing-songy voice. "What's red and smells like blue paint?"

She snickered at herself before answering, "…Red paint!"

And just like that, all four of them dissolved, laughing uproariously. If anyone was asleep in the building, Pi was certain that they were wide awake, now. And it wasn't even that funny. It was kind of stupid, actually…

"Okay, okay, I've got one," 9 interrupted. "How many Stitchpunks does it take to screw in a light bulb?"

"How many?" 5 asked.

"Only one! Me!"

That must have meant something to them, because this time there was a knowingness to their drunken laughter. But Pi didn't get it. Maybe if she did take a charge or two, their humor would make more sense. She snatched the magnet from 9—who didn't even try to fight back—and raised it briefly over her head. Now 8 spoke up with a dumb joke of his own.

"Hey, you guys: if you're jet skiing, and the wheels fall off, how much dirt does it take to cover a doghouse?"

There was a stunned silence from his siblings. That made no sense, even for a drunk joke.

"Blueberry pancakes!"

As if it explained everything, they all began to laugh again. And so the cycle of unfunny jokes continued. But as Pi continued to take charges with the rest of them, it did seem like the jokes became a little more funny.

"What's white and can kill you if it falls out of a tree? A refrigerator!"

"How do you make a plumber cry? Kill his family!"

"Why'd the little boy drop his ice cream? He got hit by a bus!"

"Why'd the chicken commit suicide? To get to the other side!"

Finally, Pi began to realize what it was. They were anti-jokes—they were funny because they weren't really funny at all. They were obvious and dark, and many of them involved people being maimed or killed in some way. Her true self found it very enjoyable, indeed. In fact, she thought of an anti-joke of her own.

"Why couldn't Sarah tie her shoes?"

"I don't know. Why couldn't Sarah tie her shoes?"

"She had no arms. Knock-knock."

"Who's there?"

"Not Sarah, she has no arms!"

Once again, uproarious laughter. And at _her_ anti-joke! She felt so proud of herself. Then she passed the magnet to 5, and it was his turn again.

"Okay… Here's a _good _one. Why was 6 afraid of 7?"

On the other side of the circle, 7 shook her head a little too hard and nearly fell over. "No, no, no, 6 isn't afraid of me. I'd never do nothing to hurt my baby brother," she slurred.

5 ignored her protest and concluded, "Because 7, 8, 9!"

For the first time, no one was laughing. Which was ironic, because it was the first joke to make any sort of sense. 8 looked incredibly confused, not understanding how he had gotten involved in this joke. 9 looked slightly less confused as he tried to puzzle it out. But 7 looked absolutely horrified, and a little angry.

"That's not true!" she shouted. "That's disgusting! How dare you!"

At first, Pi wasn't sure why 7 was getting so upset. It seemed like clever, harmless wordplay. But the more she considered it… 7, 8, 9… 7 _ate_ 9? Her husband…?

Oh. In _that_ context, the clever wordplay was suddenly transformed into a _very_ dirty joke. Poor, stupid, drunk 5 probably hadn't meant for it to be that way. It was absurd, but totally hilarious! Pi couldn't help doubling over, laughing so hard she could barely breathe.

"Stop laughing!" 7 demanded, jumping up and stomping her foot on the ground. "It's not funny! It's none of your business what I do with my own husband!"

She was swaying back and forth like a ship. It was likely that she was the most drunk of all of them; but equally as likely that she wasn't, with blind rage exacerbating her condition. 9 climbed slowly to his feet and grabbed her by the shoulders, steadying her slightly.

"I believe my lovely wife needs to lie down," he said with only a slight slur. In fact, seeing that she could barely stand up, he picked her up, threw her over his shoulder and carried her out, despite her very loud and angry protests. It seemed that 9 wasn't quite as drunk as he had appeared.

Once again, Pi couldn't help herself. She was very tipsy, and felt too much like an accepted part of this group to let one more comment go unheard.

"Goodnight!" she called after them. "Have _fuuuuun_!"

Somewhere down the hall, she heard 7 yell something furious back at her, but she couldn't hear exactly what had been said. She didn't' have to; she was sure she could guess. She didn't care if it didn't fit her façade, she chuckled cruelly to herself. What fun that had been. She leaned back on her hands and looked over at 5. For the first time, she gave him a very genuine smile.

"That was funny, 5," she giggled. "She doesn't have any sense of humor, huh?"

He gave her a surprised but pleased look. "R-really? You thought that was funny?"

"Yes! It was hilarious! It's not your sister's fault, if she can't take a joke."

"Why was she yelling so loud?" he slurred. "What did I say?"

"Oh, don't think about it too much. You're too drunk."

"Ha, yeah. So…. You _really_ think I'm funny?"

"Huh… sure, why not?"

Even though he was too slammed to stand up, the smile he gave her was actually quite charming; he almost looked sober. He slowly leaned closer to her, and at first she thought he was just too dizzy to hold his head up. But she realized just in time—he was leaning in to kiss her. Part of her leapt at it, dearly craving affection after the things that Alpha had said to her lately. But another part of her recoiled violently, and she turned her head away. She could imagine the utterly disappointed look on his face; the part of her that had recoiled relished it.

_Oh no you don't, you dolt. Not now, not ever._

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By the time they reached their bedroom, 7 had stopped struggling against him. Instead, she hung limply over her husband's shoulder, her face buried in his shoulder blade, looking dejected and humiliated. And very drunk. She looked exactly as drunk as she was. 9 wasn't sure how or when her delirium had grown so much deeper than his. He found that he didn't need to take many charges to start feeling silly—he could get drunk watching his family, and naturally join in.

And 7 wasn't nearly as slammed as she appeared, either; she was just very upset. And he still wasn't entirely sure why. He had only realized the double meaning to his brother's joke as he walked down the hallway. And, in hindsight, he did find the wordplay kind of funny. Inappropriate and entirely none of his business, but funny, in a funny kind of way. After all, what were the odds?

Still, not a lot to be so worked up over... Oh well. 7 had a tendency to overreact when she got upset. He sort of couldn't help but love it as much as he loved everything else about her.

When they were back in the privacy of their own room, he carefully set her down on her feet—and she nearly toppled to the floor. Wondering why he hadn't put her down on the bed in the first place, he caught her and held her upright.

"Why is he being so _stupid_ all the time?" she demanded, pouting like a child. Before 9 could answer, she babbled on, "I'll tell you why—he's letting that girl Pi go to his head. I don't get it. She's not _that_ cute. What's she doing to that thick head of his, anyway?"

All legitimate questions, which he didn't have the presence of mind to ponder. "I don't get it either," he agreed. "You're much prettier than Pi. You're amazing, amazing—amazingly pretty."

All traces of anger fell from her like water—next thing he knew she grabbed him by his zipper tab and pulled his face against hers, kissing him with more passion than he had would have expected, if he'd had a chance to think about it. And at this point, there was no choice but to melt right into her, as drunkenly, voraciously passionate as she was. He fell back against the door, pinning it shut under his weight as he pulled her closer and closer. He ran his hands over every inch of her soft, sweet self that he could reach. Her skin felt so good under his fingertips, silky, smooth and warm; all of his senses felt sharpened from the charges. So was his sense of touch equally sensitive, as her hands found their way over his shoulders, his chest, up and down his back and sides.

And she held him so tight, until he almost couldn't breathe, caught in her strong, inescapable grasp. He couldn't imagine he would ever be able to hold her that tightly. But what better way to die, than to suffocate in the arms of his warrior wife? He was perfectly fine with it. But he was also too drunk to truly care. For now, there was only him, her, and whatever happened next. It was sure to be something of incredible pleasure and beauty. He couldn't think of a time when they had been so wild together—if he could have honestly considered it.

As suddenly as she had glommed onto him, 7 pulled away and held his zipper tab loosely in her hand. For a long, silent moment, she stared at it thoughtfully. Then she looked at him with bleary but wild eyes.

"9… Lt me try some things."

Suddenly a little nervous, he gulped hard and asked, "What things?"

"Just some things," she answered sweetly, stroking his zipper tab with her thumb. "You'll like it—we both will. Trust me."

The gears began to turn in his dizzy head, and he realized with a start what she was hinting at. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no," he babbled and gripped her shoulders, holding her back from him a bit. "You, you don't have to do that. Just 'cause 5's being a weird doesn't mean you have to be."

"I'm not being a weird, I'm just being your wife. I'm your wife, and I wanna play with you. Let me play with you, 9, let me do it!"

""No, 7, no," he slurred. "We, no. We shouldn't do this."

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with it—we're _married_."

That was true enough, but… Still. It seemed strange and weird, and kind of wrong. But that also served to make it more intriguing. 7 made that thoughtful face again and reached up to run her finger around his eye rim. She slowly let her fingers drip down his face, over his eye, his nonexistent nose, his lips, his chin. It was like she held the powers of fire and lightening in her fingertips.

"You don't… You don't want it, you don't want to try," she mumbled disappointedly.

"No, no, I… I _do_ want it. I do, really."

"Then shut up and let me _do it_, while we're still _drunk_."

Well, that made a lot of sense, he supposed. Best to make stupid choices while alone and unable to help themselves. And if she wanted to use those stupid choices to be her adventurous self _and_ please her husband at the same time, who was _he_ to deny her genius?

She took his brief hesitation as the agreement that it was and took a deep, excited breath. Then she lowered her head to his chest, pushing him back against the door as she caught his zipper tab in her mouth. She slowly lowered herself to her knees, dragging the tab down by her soft lips, one painfully pleasant click after another.

9 was paralyzed by the sensation that overtook him. It snatched all his breath away and left him gasping for air. He had described it as a waterfall before; it felt like all the waters in the world had come crashing down on his head. It was simply _amazing_. He thought for a long moment that he would cry from sheer joy.

Once she reached the floor, she braced her hands on his hips and sat back, breathing hard as if she had felt everything she made him feel. She ran her thumb down the jagged edge of his open zipper, sending icy tingling tearing through him like a stampede. He had no idea how he was still standing, pressed so close against the door that he felt like he was a part of it; he felt like he should have fainted.

"Here we go," she whispered.

The next thing he knew, her whole head was inside his body cavity, and it was that magical green wire—the one that led directly to his heart and soul—caught between her nonexistent teeth. The intensity returned tenfold, and it took everything he had not to struggle against her. He would never have guessed that the difference between her soft lips and her smooth, hard fingers could be so great.

Still, it wasn't the same. Even through the haze she had created, he missed his 7. He couldn't hold her close, return her sweet kisses, or look into her heavenly eyes. In fact, he could barely _see_ anything, and it frightened him, just a little. He would never have imagined a sensation this great was possible at all—maybe because it shouldn't be.

It could have gone on for hours, or only a matter of minutes—he had lost all concept of time. But eventually, for reasons he couldn't begin to think of, she pulled her head out and sat back, panting as if she had run a race. Still pressed against the door, 9 felt his knees buckle like jello, and he sank to the floor. He couldn't think of trying to move his limbs; they felt as reliable as his knees. But his head felt amazingly clear, free of the charges that had made him so dizzy before.

He slowly looked up at 7, who slowly looked up at him with a girlish smile. Their adventure together seemed to have cleared her head, as well.

"See? I told you we'd both like it."

He couldn't help himself, even if he felt like a beached octopus flailing around. He leaned forward and gathered her up in his arms, hauling her into his lap and cuddling her close. He kissed her face all over, until it tickled enough to make her laugh. Then he leaned back ever so slightly and gazed into her bright, wide eyes. He had her back. And it was the best thing he had felt all day.

"I feel so close to you right now," he whispered, caressing her face. "The way you make me feel… No one else could ever do that. Ever."

She snuggled into his shoulder and gave him a winning smile. "I could never trust anyone else with this. But I trust in you, my 9. I love you."

"Oh, my 7, my 7, I adore you," he answered, nuzzling her face. He placed his hand over hers and held it to his heart. "Hey. That was… It was amazing. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. I'm your wife. It's what I'm here for."

"No, no. There is _so_ much more that you are here for," he insisted. He raised her fingers to his lips for a long, gentle kiss, and then brushed the back of her hand against his cheek.

"Once again, thank you. Just… Thank you, for being your wonderful self."

To that, she sighed deeply, contentedly, and sank into his warm embrace.

"You're welcome."

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Author's Notes…

Oh yes, I DID just go there. (devilish grin) You can thank Barn Owl Girl for this prompt. I don't know if this was… _exactly_ what she was expecting, but I did promise her a punchline to what can suddenly become—yes, indeed!—a very dirty joke, in the right company.

Not sure who's going to get it next… Probably the twins. (dun-dun-DUUUUUN!) And we are probably safe from anything this intense for another several chapters. Suffice it to say, 5 is an idiot. But you already knew that. ;)


	11. In A Rush

So, the last chapter was a hit, for the most part! Glad you all liked my anti-jokes—they seemed to be a bigger hit than the 7-8-9 fluff. XD

On that note, 4 and 6 will get some time as a couple (or whatever they think of themselves as) in this chapter, as Pi is moving right along with her plan and going after the twins. 6 will….. Not be cool with this.

(Barn Owl Girl, I've tossed in an homage to _10_. I'm sure you'll know it when you see it. ;D)

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_In A Rush_

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4 woke quickly from a dreamless sleep. She rarely dreamed anymore, let alone in color—say for an occasional traumatizing memory from days long past. Given that her unconsciousness was usually just a black void of unknowingness, she always woke up in the morning faster than her twin. In fact, as she sat up in bed and looked down at 3, still asleep beside her, it didn't look like he would be up any time soon.

Sunlight was streaming down into the globe, through the holes in the roof above; but it was impossible to tell the time. Instead, 4 looked to the open pocket watch against the corner of the shelf they slept in. It read 7:42 in the morning, which struck her as odd. They almost never slept later than 6:00. She wondered what had kept her asleep for so long.

She sat back and took a deep, full breath of the cool morning air. It was invigorating, but had a slow, sort of lazy feeling to it. Perhaps everyone else was also still asleep. And then she remembered. Several of the adults had been taking charges last night. No doubt they were still sleeping deeply, or very hung-over this morning. No wonder it felt so still and lazy.

Today was probably going to be declared a day off. For everyone.

The idea of a day off was as exciting as it was a little unsettling. 4 supposed that she and her twin could certainly do with a day away from their voluntarily deep studies. If their adopted parents were feeling sick today, she and her brother could look after 10 for a few hours; it had been days since they had spent any real time with her. Oh! And her heart fluttered a bit when she thought that she and 6 could maybe take a walk together, just the two of them. Maybe she would even muster the nerve to kiss him on the cheek afterwards. He would love that so much.

This day off was going to be simply terrific. And she couldn't stand to waste another half-a-second of it sitting in bed. As she jumped out from under the blanket and her feet hit the floor, the sudden movement was enough to make 3 stir a little. Slowly, reluctantly, he began to open his eyes.

"_Jeez, 4, what's the rush?"_ he said slowly, his bleary-eyed flickering almost impossible to understand.

"_We've got a big day ahead of us,"_ she announced cheerily, feeling wider awake than ever. _"Best to get it started now. We've wasted too much time already. All the others are probably still sleeping, but I'll bet that 1 and 2 and 10 are awake. Let's go say hi!"_

"_And no one else? What time did you say it was?"_

"_Half past seven in the morning."_

3 bolted upright, looking surprised. _"Already? How'd we sleep that long?"_

"_Dunno. But hey, worse things have happened. It's kind of nice, not being the first people up, not being the ones who have to greet everyone else. Today, __we're__ the ones people will say good morning to first!"_

3 smiled at his sister and nodded his head. _"Oh yeah. I guess you're right, that will be nice. So, why's today such a __big__ day, as opposed to any other day?"_

To this, 4 crossed her arms disapprovingly. _"Dad and 5 came in here yesterday, looking for a magnet. I think they all got drunk last night."_

3 giggled boyishly. _"Probably all except the old geezers, right?"_

"_3! You shouldn't talk about 1 and 2 like that! It's disrespectful. 2 looked after us before we had anyone else. And 1 is… Not as bad as he used to be."_

"_But, 4—"_

"_Butts are for sitting on. And you've sat on yours long enough. Come on, let's go."_

"_Okay, okay, fine…"_ he grumbled as he finally climbed out of bed. _"Why __are__ you so excited about everyone being drunk, anyway?"_

"_I am __not__ excited about everyone being drunk. I'm excited because this could be a pretty good day to get out of the study for a while, while they all need looking after."_

"_I don't want to be anyone's babysitter! If everyone's too out of it to do anything, I say that we go out alone, for a change—with no parents or uncles to tell us what to do."_

"_I was thinking the same thing,"_ 4 agreed, and then sighed kind of sadly. _"If we were older, we could go anywhere we wanted without anybody telling us what to do…"_

"_Huh. That is true, I guess. We'd be taller, as well—we could climb up the shelves all by ourselves, if we wanted."_

"_We'd be able to do all kinds of stuff on our own."_

The twins shared a knowing look, and they smiled at each other. Suddenly, they knew exactly what they wanted for their next birthday. As an afterthought that zoomed to the front of her mind, 4 realized that if she were older, she and 6 would be closer in age. Then maybe their relationship could go somewhere. As if he could sense who she was thinking about, 3 perked up with an idea of his own.

"_We should ask 6 to come with us. I'll bet he'd have fun spending some time with us… You," _he said with a shrug. But he didn't seem to mind.

"_Go figure, I was thinking the same thing, just now,"_ she agreed with a smile. _"Hm… I wonder where he is this morning?"_

3 looked around and realized that she was right. Having no room of his own, 6 slept in the globe with them. And since Pi had come to them, he had been sleeping in front of the entrance like a faithful guard dog—no one could come in or out of the globe without his knowing it. He had seemed very concerned about something, but he hadn't told them much about it. All they had really discerned from him was that something was up with Pi, and that they shouldn't go near her.

But there was no sign of him. Where could he have gone all by himself, so early in the morning?

"_That __is__ unusual,"_ 3 flickered slowly as he stood up. _"And he sleeps late 'cause he never sleeps well."_

As 4 considered the various reasons why 6's absence was unusual, it dawned on her to be just a little nervous. _"3, do you think it's okay to be in here alone?"_

"_Sure. Why wouldn't it be? We're in here alone all the time."_

"_I know, but… Without 6 to keep us safe… What are we to do without him?"_

"_How's __6__ to keep us safe? He doesn't do much, you know."_

"_I know, but… Who's going to guard us now?"_

Kind of annoyed with how silly his sister was being, 3 marched over to her and put his arm around her shoulder.

"_You're so dumb sometimes, 4. I'm your twin brother. You've always got me to take care of you," _he said stoutly.

"_I thought you didn't want to be anyone's babysitter."_

"_I don't, but you're different. You're my little sister—my __twin__ sister."_

"_Little by, like, five minutes."_

"_Who cares? I can't let anything bad happen to you. What kind of big brother would that make me?"_

"My, my, what an exceptional big brother."

The twins looked up with a start at the unfamiliar voice and saw Pi, standing just outside the shelf where they slept.

"I never had a big brother to take care of me," she continued. "I used to have an older sister… But she never really cared what I was up to."

4 was a little scared, and skittered behind her brother for shelter. Even though he was also a little scared, 3 stood his ground, resolutely shielding his sister from the stranger.

"_We, uh, didn't hear you come in,"_ he said.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Hey, are you two afraid of me?"

"_6 said not to go near you. And dad said so, too."_

"Well, maybe your stripey friend is just stupid and doesn't know what he's talking about."

"_6 isn't stupid!"_ 4 said defensively from behind her fortress. _"He just sees things differently from the rest of us. And sometimes, it means that he sees things for what they really are."_

"Uh-huh… Say, how do the two of you feel about magic?"

3 was intrigued at once. _"You mean, like, pulling rabbits out of hats, and card tricks and stuff like that, or… like, wicked witch magic?"_

"_1 calls that sort of stuff dark science,"_ 4 added, shrinking back behind her twin for safety. _"He says to leave that stuff alone. He says its evil."_

"And how would _he_ know that?" Pi asked, and advanced inside the shelf. "Who's to say what is and isn't evil in this world? It's all a matter of opinion. People who would use magic for good wouldn't think of themselves as evil, now would they? Maybe _they_ just see things a little differently. It isn't right of 1 to decide that for you. _I_ think the two of you should decide that for yourselves, and your choice isn't anyone's business."

The twins were silent for a moment, soaking up her reasoning. On the surface, it seemed to make sense. Even the long-dead Chancellor of the ruined city, for instance—the things he had done were evil, it was a plain fact for all to see. But in his own mind, he must have fancied himself as logical, progressive, forward-thinking, and concerned with the welfare of his State. Maybe it had never occurred to him that the things he was doing were wrong.

But at the same time, Pi's reasoning seemed just that—_wrong_. Very wrong.

"At any rate," she continued after a pause, "I was talking about sleight of hand, street magic—like this."

She leaned forward and reached her fingers inside 3's hood, just behind his ear. He flinched, startled that she was suddenly so close. But when she pulled her hand back, a small pebble had materialized in her palm.

"Now what was _this_ doing back there? What else are you hiding in that hood of yours?" she teased, giving him a friendly smile.

In spite of everything, easily-distracted 3 was delighted. His wide eyes lit up with wonder, and he applauded Pi's trick. Surely, there was a simple explanation for it, but who cared? It was magic. Even 4 lightened up a little bit, though she didn't lower her guard like her brother had.

"I can show you some more, if you want," she offered sweetly. "I've seen some stuff lying around in here I can use. Come on." She led the way out of the shelf and into the rest of the globe, prompting 3 to run right after her. But 4 grabbed him by the arm and held him back.

"_I don't like this,"_ she insisted as quietly as her flickering could allow. _"They said to stay away from her."_

"_I don't know, 4. She seems alright. What's the worst she could do to us? Saw us in half? Come on, sis, it's harmless street magic. What are you so scared of?"_

"_It's not the magic, it's __her__. I don't want to be alone with her."_

"_You're not going to be alone, I'll be right here with you. Don't worry, you're safe with me. I'm your brother, and I'll keep you safe from anything you're afraid of."_

She supposed that was comforting. If something bad happened, 3 _would_ guard her with his life—and she would guard him with hers. They would be fine, no matter what, as long as they stayed together. Still a bit reluctant, she let 3 lead her by the hand after Pi.

_She could be like our big sister,_ 3 thought optimistically as they followed her. _I've never had a __big__ sister before…_

At the same time, 4 was thinking fretfully, _I wish that 6 would come back. He'd know why this feels like such a __bad__ idea…_

Pi brought them to a stop before a pile of clutter on the floor. The twins had gathered these various findings before it had snowed—nuts, screws, bolts, wires, and other things the elevator might need, in case it broke down over the winter. But the same trappings could easily fit any number of sleight of hand parlor tricks. Pi stooped to pick up a long screw and a scrap of cloth. She raised the flat head of the screw to her nose and inhaled deeply, as if she were sniffing a flower.

"Ah, the sweet smell of springtime, yes?" she commented.

"_Um… Not exactly," _3 answered, wondering where she would go with this.

Pi giggled. "And why ever not?"

"_It's a screw,"_ 4 pointed out helpfully.

"Oh, is it?" Pi answered, and threw the scrap of cloth over the screw. She waved her hand mysteriously over it, and then swept the cloth away.

"Presto-change-o!" she cried, revealing a splendid silk rose in place of the tarnished screw. "And now, even in the dead of winter, we can still have a bit of spring with us."

That was an amazing trick, and this time both the twins clapped for her.

"_Do another one, Pi!"_ 3 cheered, and even 4 nodded her head vehemently. Pi smiled, and picked up a pair of similarly sized washers from the clutter.

"And what do we have here? It appears we have another set of twins in the house! 3 and 4, meet, er, Willie and Winnie, Will, Winn, say hello."

3 and 4 laughed and waved hello, while Pi imitated the imaginary voices of the twin washers carrying on a conversation.

"You know," she continued, clinking Willie and Winnie together as she spoke, "I really admire twins. You never see them apart. They're always like—"

She clashed them sharply together and all of a sudden, they were linked together.

"—Like this," she concluded, holding them up for all to see. "They're always together, joined at the hip. You can never find one without the other. And that's pretty great."

Amazed and touched, the twins applauded again. She was a wonderful magician! Where had she learned to do that?

"For my next amazing feat, I need two volunteers," she announced, undoing herself discretely and reaching into her body cavity. "How about… The two of you, there in the first row? Come on up, don't be shy."

As they came closer to her, she pulled a smooth black stone out of her body. It looked like a marble from a children's game; but in Pi's Stitchpunk hand, it was very big and heavy. And it didn't appear to be an average glass playing marble, either. It gleamed with a luster that suggested a semi-precious mineral. Maybe onyx, if they were asked to guess.

Pi held the sphere at their eye level in one hand, and waved her other hand over it.

"Gaze into the sphere of truth, and I can read your minds, your hearts, and your futures," she crooned mysteriously. Both twins leaned a little closer to the sphere and stared at it hard for a moment. To their astonishment, images actually appeared within it, as if it really were made of clear glass.

3 spoke up first, as his image came into focus. _"I see… I see a throne, made of books," _he said proudly.

4 had to squint to tell what her image was supposed to be; but when she figured it out, she pouted and crossed her arms, disappointed. _"I see a duck."_

"Interesting," Pi commented. "A confident, overachieving leader with a love of knowledge; and a quiet, peaceful creature of nature, with a love of solitude. Dear 4, what's wrong with being a duck?"

"_They only come out when it rains."_

"Well _someone's_ got to be there to appreciate it. Taking your pleasure from what others take for granted—that's one of the greatest things you can do, you know."

4 supposed that was correct, and very wise. Maybe they had all been wrong about Pi, after all…

"Now that we know who you are, I shall _gaze_ into your future, and answer any questions you want. What would you like to know?"

3 raised his hand and went on without being called on. _"Will I ever find a usable copy of Homer's __Odyssey__? The only copies we have here have been too damaged to use." _

"_Your clan, Pi. Will we ever meet them?"_

"Oh, an excellent choice of questions. Now close your eyes and count backward from ten. I will speak the magic words, and the truth will be revealed."

The twins clenched their eyes shut and began to count, unable to see the sly smirk on Pi's face. Over their counting in unison, they heard Pi whispering her magic words. They were strange-sounding and guttural, nothing like the simple _abracadabra_, or _hocus pocus_ they had been expecting. By the time they had counted down to five, they felt their heads beginning to spin a little—but they were still too focused on counting to notice it entirely.

"_Five… Four… Three… Two—"_

"No! Wait! Stop—_STOP!_"

The twin's eyes flew open at the familiar voice, screaming at the top of its lungs. Instead of seeing Pi's round, adorable face, they were staring at a white back striped with bands of black, the sixth digit engraved in black ink between his shoulders.

4 breathed a great sigh of relief. 6 was back—the truth would be revealed, indeed.

He stood like a defense tower between the twins and Pi, his arms stretched out like a wall to shield his friends. They couldn't see his face, though they imagined that it must have been wild with fear for them, and maybe even… anger. Pi seemed to have jumped back and tripped over something, for she was in a very shocked-looking heap on the floor amid the other various things there. She held the onyx sphere close to her body, as if trying to protect it from 6 and his firry stare.

For a long, frightening minute, there was silence. Just long enough for it to be established—6 was in charge, here. Pi was a stranger with no business being in the globe, alone with the twins. And now she had to answer to _him_.

"Get out," he said finally, his tone low and gentle as always, but firm and almost commanding.

"But, but I just—"

"Get _out_," he repeated, his tone much shorter than before, and threatening to rise if she didn't get up and leave. Right now. Damn it.

Pi took the hint, picked herself up, and walked away toward the exit, looking confused and kind of peeved. 6 orbited the twins, keeping himself between them and her until she had gone, never taking his eyes off her. When she had finally left, he turned to face them with a sad, disappointed face.

"You… You didn't listen to me," he commented quietly. "…_Why_?"

4 felt sick to her mechanical stomach; she thought she might even cry. He had tried to keep them safe, but they had ignored him yet again, and walked headlong into danger they might have avoided. If only they could have trusted him this time. On her right, 3 was just as horrified with himself. And after all that talk about taking care of his little sister, keeping her safe from bad things, looking out for her when she was scared. He had put himself in harm's way and dragged her right along, even when she had tried to tell him something wasn't right. Some big brother he was.

Failures. They were complete and utter failures. But at least they were safe, now. They fell into 6's snuggly arms, burying their faces in his shoulders, and beginning to cry a little. But he put his arms around them and held them close; 4 felt his delicate fingers as they stroked the back of her head comfortingly. He felt every inch as shaken as they were.

"I was afraid," he said plainly, starting to rock them—as much for his own comfort as for theirs. "I thought I was too late. I thought she was… Taking you away."

That was an interesting way to put it—they had no idea here he thought she was trying to take them. But what did it matter anymore? She had tried to do _something _to them. And 6 had stopped her. He had probably just saved their lives. As awful as they felt for not listening to him, they were overwhelmingly relieved that he had come to their rescue.

"_We're sorry, 6,"_ 4 sobbed into his shoulder. _"I don't' know what she did to us."_

"Aw… It's okay," he said in his blank but reassuring way. "She can't come back in here. Not while I'm here. I'll keep you safe. I'll keep you safe."

4 didn't doubt that for a second. She snuggled deeper into his shoulder, feeling safer than ever; his embrace tightened around them both, but it felt like he was making a point of holding her tighter than her twin. It was the closest they had ever been, and certainly the most tender moment they had ever shared. She kind of hoped that the moment would never end…

Then 3 suddenly raised his head and said, _"Hey, you guys, let's get out of here. Let's all go outside, where she can't follow us. I don't want to be in here with her anymore!"_

6 nodded earnestly. "Yeah. That sounds good," he agreed, and let 3 skitter out from under his arm, toward the exit. He and 4 turned to follow the boy out, but she stopped him short.

"_Thank you for coming back."_

He looked at her as if she had said something ridiculous. "But… Of course I came back. _You_ were here."

Her little heart dissolved. That was the dearest thing anyone had ever said to her. She couldn't help herself, let alone stop herself from tilting her head up and kissing him gently on the cheek. Just like she had planned.

"_Don't leave us again, 6. Don't leave me again."_

His googley eyes were wide with wonder, and a nervous, sheepish smile slowly spread over his face.

"…Okay. I won't."


	12. False Witness

I can't tell you how super excited I am about the ensuing chapter or two—or even three. Pi is about to do something just… Truly _evil_. Those who I may have leaked to weeks ago will know exactly what I'm talking about. ;)

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_False Witness_

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It was the dawn of another really lovely day—too lovely for the clan's menfolk to spend inside, when there was work to be done. They were all going out to scout for supplies, like they did nearly every morning. Thanks to their hard work, the supplies that had dwindled so slow over December were piling back up nicely.

But 9 didn't want to go out today. He would have been happier to stay in and be with his wife and children—all three of them, yes. However, he was the leader and his brothers needed him. So, despite what he wanted to do, he was preparing to take off for the morning. 7 wasn't particularly pleased that he was going, either; but she had her own list of concerns.

"I hate it that you have to go out again," she commented sadly, though she understood why he had to. In her arms, 10 began to wriggle and fuss, as if she had already figured out that her daddy was leaving.

"Honey, are you… worried?" he asked, tugging his green coat over his arms.

"Maybe, just a little. After all that's happened with Pi, I don't like being left alone while she's here. At first I thought she was just an unusual little girl; but now, after everything that's happened these past few days, and everything 6 told us the other day… How can I not be nervous?"

9 gave her a gentle smile, and walked to embrace them both. "I don't really like it, either. But it's only for a few hours. And Pi's already put her crutch aside, and now her limp is almost fully healed. Her time with us is almost over."

"That's a relief," 7 agreed, gazing down at her baby. Satisfied for the moment that her daddy was still there, 10 had stopped fussing. Now she just silently stared wide-eyed at her parents, her big black pupils flicking back and forth from her mother's face to her father's face, just marveling at them as they marveled at her.

"Say goodbye to your baby," she said sweetly, handing her over. "She already doesn't like it when you go away."

That was a fact and a half. 9 had already figured that out a few days ago, when he had attempted to play peek-a-boo with his daughter for the first time. The fact that her daddy could disappear at will like that seemed to frighten her more than fascinate her. Even when he walked out of a room—any time she couldn't see him—it distressed her.

Daddy's little girl, indeed. He cuddled her closer in one arm, reached up to hold her tiny hand in his free one, and rocked her gently.

"Hello, precious girl," he greeted with a smile. She cooed back in response; the look in her wide eyes was earnest, as if she was silently begging him not to go.

:Oh, you know I wouldn't leave you unless I had to," he insisted. "But I won't be gone for long today, only an hour or two—perhaps three, if your silly granddad gets sidetracked again. And look: you get to spend the _whole_ morning with mommy, and your big brother and sister! Won't that be nice? And then I'll come home later, and we'll spend the whole rest of the day together, as a family. Just like it's supposed to be. You'll like that, huh?"

Not quite convinced, 10 began to fuss again, kicking her legs and flapping her arms angrily.

"Dixie, would you like me to sing before I go?"

She quieted a bit, her attention caught by one of the few words she had learned to recognize. After singing their favorite song so many times, the order of the verses had blurred a little. So 9 started with the first verse that came to mind—which happened to be the second.

_No sweetness the senses can cheer  
Which corruption and bribery bind  
No brightness that gloom can e'er clear  
For honour's the sum of the mind_

_Let the love of our land's sacred rights  
To the love of our people__succeed__  
Let friendship and honour unite  
And flourish on both sides the Tweed._

10 calmed down and stopped flailing, mesmerized by her father's voice. That would tide her over until he came home. He bent his head down and kissed her precious face a few times, earning a squeal that might have been laughter. He handed her back into his wife's waiting arms, though she refused to let go of his finger.

"Your daddy loves you _so_ much," 7 commented, caressing her baby's face with her finger.

"I love you both," he corrected, leaning closer and nuzzling her face, looking deep into her eyes. "I adore you."

"I would be lost without you."

He slipped one arm around her waist and held his other hand against her cheek, pulling her close for a farewell embrace and a long, sweet kiss.

"You're my whole world—all of you," he whispered, feeling close to tears, overwhelmed with how wonderful his family was. "I love you."

She gave him a grand smile, letting her face rest gently in his hand. "And I love you."

He pulled her back for a last quick kiss goodbye, then bent down to kiss his baby again, as well.

"It's only for a few hours, I promise," he assured them. He then picked up his pack from the foot of the bed and slung it over his shoulder, finally tearing himself from his ladies and heading for the door. He paused to look back at them a final time and sighed, at a loss for words. They were so beautiful. He loved them both so much…

"7, everything will be alright."

"I know, I know. You take care of the others. I'll look after this monster. I trust you."

Maybe that warmed his heart more than anything. Her trust and her love were the dearest treasures he could possess. He knew he had won them—through a great many trials he would gladly face again—but hearing it out loud always made his heart skip a beat. All he could do in response was smile back and try not to cry.

"Thank you."

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Less than hour an hour later found 9 wandering around with 5, tossing a rock back and forth while they talked, as they always did.

"So," he said slowly, "Pi's leg is better. She's walking all by herself again, and I can barely tell if she's limping anymore."

"Yeah, it's great, isn't it?" 5 agreed, sounding pretty proud.

"I know… So, she'll be leaving in a day or two, yes?"

"Oh, uh…. Oh, yes. I hadn't really thought about that," he answered sadly, almost worriedly.

Ug, he didn't want to talk about this. Certainly not now that 5 had grown ridiculously attached to her. But it had to be said, sometime. And now was as good a time as any.

"You know, most of us have been looking forward to it."

"What? Why? That's so unlike you."

"I know it is, 5, but… Haven't you noticed how strange some of us have been acting since we found her?"

"If you're talking about what happened with 6 that night, just let it go. It was nothing. I know it."

"Well I know different. I actually sat down and spoke with him the other day. Do you know what he said? Or what he did?"

"You actually _talked_ to him?" 5 sounded nervous for a second, but then waved it off and dismissed, "It was probably ridiculous."

"He drew some things, babbling things that sounded pretty important the whole time. Things about curses and sacrifices, and letters—letters of the Greek alphabet, over and over again. And he drew this shadow. It looked like one of us, riding a spider—a _mechanical_ spider, with glowing eyes."

5 looked a little frightened, but also remained amazingly cool. "But… But that can't be right. It has to be—"

"No, 5, you're listening to me. Listen to me now: Pi is trying to do something terrible to us."

"Pi, are you kidding? She couldn't do anything terrible if she tired! Have you spent any time with her, talking to her, looking at her? She isn't a monster. She wouldn't hurt us."

"Look, I don't know what she's planning; but I'm not going to wait around to find out. I can't let her stay here to cause us pain, just because you think she's pretty. You understand this, don't you?"

"So, you're just going to throw an innocent girl out into the January snow and tell her to fend for herself, just because a few of you think she's a witch or something? Is that _really_ what you're going to do?"

9 was taken aback by his brother's tone of voice. He was so angry, like he had been all winter, trying poorly to hide it. But today, he wasn't even making an effort to put on a smile and pretend everything was alright. Today, it looked like he was going to stand up and fight for what he wanted. And while he was inwardly proud of 5 for finding the nerve to stand up to someone like this… _Why_ did it have to be over this?

"I'm not throwing her out like that. She can walk on her own now, and she ought to know the way back to wherever she came from. And I don't know how you can keep listening to _her_, and not to your own family. She is scaring us. She may have tried to attack the twins yesterday."

"Why would she attack anyone? And what if she _can't_ go home? Someone attacked _her_ and left her for dead! You can't just send her out there to die, not after we've saved her life."

"I don't—I don't know what's out there, and neither do you. Maybe she got separated from her family. What if she has a mother and a father, and brothers and sisters, or even a husband and children who are wondering where she is? They could be scared to death they'll never see her again. They could be bracing themselves to have to go out and find her body, bring it back, and lay her to rest—how would _you_ feel, 5? How would you feel is it was me, or 7, or one of the twins? Wouldn't you want them back? If it was you, wouldn't you want to get back to us?"

5 was silent for a moment, considering everything 9 had just said.

"She… Pi does have three younger sisters. Delta, Gamma, and Theta. She hasn't seen them since November."

"Then let her go back to them," 9 insisted, laying a sympathetic hand on his brother's shoulder. "Let her go back to her family. They must miss her so much. If you had been missing you for that long, do you even know how worried we'd be? How… How worried I _was_?"

He nodded slowly, reluctantly understanding.

"I… I do understand."

9 let go a sigh, very relieved. "I know this isn't ideal for all of us. Safety doesn't always mean freedom; but freedom doesn't always mean safety, either. I want us to be safe, but I also want us to be free. And we can't be either, while she's here."

"….."

"5…. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. In spite of everything else, I know that you've come to know her well."

He nodded sadly. "I simply don't see this, whatever the rest of you see in her. She's smart, and kind, and sort of silly… She's been nothing but sweet to me."

"And I do appreciate that. Hey, if there's Pi, and she has three sisters, there _must_ be other women in the world. Surely we'll find them, eventually."

"Let me take her home."

"…What?"

"I'd like to help her get back to her home, to her sisters. I just—I don't want her to get lost and attacked again, all alone in this snow, with no way to protect herself. If none of you want her here, at least let me make sure she gets back safely."

Something in his gut told 9 that this was a very bad idea. An innocent, kind, and sincere idea, but very bad, nonetheless. After all he knew to be true, he didn't want his brother alone with her, in the Emptiness, in the snow that was waist-deep in places. But then, maybe it would enlighten him. And it would certainly humor him in this moment.

"Yes, that's very kind of you," he finally agreed. 5 reached up and patted his hand, still on his shoulder, and gave him a thankful smile for allowing him this.

"It really does mean a lot to me. I was… worried you wouldn't understand."

"No, I do understand, a little. Hey, I'm just trying to do what's best for us all. And there are children to think about. I don't _want_ Pi to get hurt again; but I'd rather err on the side of caution. I don't want any of us hurt again, either."

"I know…"

Seeing 5 so down was much less startling than seeing him angry; but it always made 9 feel down, as well, to see his best friend so. He put his arm around his brother and led him forward once more. He handed over the rock, which he had been holding since they had abandoned it some time ago.

"Who knows what we'll find out there together, 5? It's a big world. And it's ours. If we just keep walking, we're bound to find something amazing, eventually."

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7 had surprised herself again, recently. Never before had she been so content to stay inside for so long, especially when almost everyone else was out. But 10 was too young to be out in the cold and snow, so _someone_ had to stay home and look after her. And oddly, 7 was content to be that someone. Her baby was a whole new world unto her tiny self, just waiting to be discovered and charted.

Also, it was strange to think about, but it had only been a week and a half since 10 had been born. 7 didn't like to admit it, but her body was still adjusting to _not_ being pregnant anymore. Thankfully, the transition was much more gentle than before; but it was slow going, all the same. Perhaps in a week or two, she would begin to feel restless again. But for now, she was happy to hang around the library, taking it easy so her body would heal easier.

She filled all that time by sitting on the bed and playing with 10, and talking to her a lot. She always spoke slowly, carefully enunciating her words, so that he baby would learn to speak properly. She knew that most of the others baby-talked to her, but she couldn't see how that could be helpful to such a bright little girl. If she was expected to speak so early, her mother wanted to understand every word she had to say.

But it was hard to keep this policy all the time, especially when playing with her little fingers and toes. 7 was also trying to teach 10 to count, up to eight on her fingers, then to nine and ten on her toes. 10 didn't quite seem to understand yet, but she did seem to enjoy hearing her mother's voice, listing the numbers she was beginning to recognize as the names of her family—her grandfathers, her brother and sister, her uncles, her parents, and then herself. But sometimes, in the middle of counting, 7 would lose herself in the adorableness of her child's fingers and stop to just play with them for a while before remembering what she had been doing.

"I'm sorry I can be so fickle and scatterbrained sometimes," she lamented. "I hope you haven't gotten that from me. But if I can focus enough to teach you to count, maybe you can teach me some patience. What do you think, little love? Can you do that?"

10 answered with a yawn, and rubbed her eyes with her burlap fist. Clearly, it was naptime. But it was so adorable, 7 forgot to act on it right away, distracted by how darn _cute_ she was—yawning and rubbing her eyes, like a person, or something. But then she squealed and began flailing around, as if to say, "Um, _excuse_ me, but I'm ready to go to sleep, so _why_ aren't you nursing me yet?"

"Aw, look at you, trying to communicate," 7 commented. But she got the hint and scooped her baby up in her arms, letting her latch onto her catch. As 10 nursed silently, she looked very proud of herself for communicating so well. To 7, that was big and very important. If her child was trying to talk to them, she wanted her to know she was being understood.

It was certainly naptime; 10 drifted off to sleep in a matter of minutes. 7 gently laid her down in the middle of the bed, where she wouldn't fall off if she slept fitfully. She then leaned back against the headboard, feeling truly excellent about her life. It had been nearly two hours, and the rest of her family would be home soon. She supposed that when they returned, she and 10 would move to the common room, and they would all variably stay there for the rest of the afternoon, and probably well into the night. In the meantime, she considered a nap of her own, until they returned.

She wondered what 10 might be dreaming about…

"Oh, hello, 7."

She looked up to an unwelcome sight. Pi was leaning casually against the doorway, looking very smug. As if she owned the place. 7 stifled an annoyed groan and gave the girl a somewhat flat smile.

"Hello, Pi. Can I help you with something?"

She sidled into the room with the cool haughtiness of a cat. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning, you know," she informed.

"Oh really? Ready to be home?"

"I just thought you ought to know, since there's almost no more time—I'm not going alone. 9 is leaving with me."

"…Is that so? He never told me. But it's kind of him to see you home safely. I suppose he'd do the same for anyone else." With a smile and a loving sigh, she added, "He's great like that, you know."

Pi laughed shortly, rather cruelly. "You misunderstand me. He's _leaving_ with me. He isn't coming back."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't tell me you're so naïve. Your husband is leaving you."

7 was stunned for a second. Not because she believed Pi, but because she was outraged. She jumped off the bed and stared the other girl down.

"You're lying. You're lying! Get out!"

"He loves me," Pi continued, ignoring her. "He said so himself. He loves me, and he wants to stay with me, not you."

"He would never say that!"

"Why? Because he loves _you_? He stopped loving you the moment he saw me—the moment he realized how much better I am."

"How dare you," she growled, advancing on her in a rage. "I will _not_ tolerate this in my own home! I have half a mind to throw you out myself, right now! And when he comes home—"

Before she could finish, Pi threw her fingertips at her, muttering a few strange words in a language that 7 didn't recognize. She lost control of her thoughts, and felt her whole being open up like an empty book, waiting to be filled.

"9 is leaving you," Pi repeated sternly. "He doesn't love you anymore. He only loved you until he realized that I am perfect, and you are not. I'm smarter, prettier, and younger than you could ever be. I don't fight against him, I do whatever he says without contradicting him. I don't hold him back by being fickle and contrary all the time. He says he adores that about me. Why do you think he goes out every morning, when you beg him to stay? You didn't _really_ think he goes out with his brothers, did you? He's been with me all that time. He runs away from you every morning to fool around with _me_. And he says that I'll be a better mate than you could ever be. He doesn't care about you, and he certainly doesn't care about the child.

"He just wants me. I'm all he's ever wanted. 9 belongs to me now. You'll never have him again. And there's absolutely _nothing_ you can do about it."

And just like that, everything she knew to be true vanished, replaced instead with everything that Pi had said. All of a sudden, it wasn't ridiculous and outrageous. It was the truth. Everything she said was true! 9 was really leaving her! 7 felt impossibly confused and so very betrayed, and she felt her heart crumbling to pieces. Pi leaned victoriously into her face with a cruel smile.

"He tastes like potatoes, doesn't he," she commented, and turned and stalked out of the room, leaving 7 to her thoughts.

She could barely breathe. Her head was spinning, and she felt sick and alone. Part of her new consciousness tried to rationalize that it wasn't true—it simply couldn't be. He couldn't just _leave_ her like this. Not the man who had saved her life so many times, who had married her, had a child with her, shared a bed with her, had kissed her goodbye this very morning…

It only served to rip what remained of her heart to shreds. He had betrayed her. She had trusted him with her very life, when his mind could be changed so easily? _This_ was the thanks she got? The aching of her broken heart was too much to bear. It was all she could do to fall to her shaking knees, weeping bitterly.

_What am I going to do?_ She wondered. _What am I going to do…?_

2222222222

Two and a half hours had yielded a productive venture into the Emptiness. 2 had a brand new project he was starting, and had a list of items he needed; so while he had no pressing projects of his own, 9 had been happy to help him look for the things he needed. The list was still quite long, but they had managed to find several things in the snow. Given how deep it was, they were surprised they had found what they had.

But now they were home, and all that 9 wanted was to be with his wife and kids. He missed the days when they could all go out together, and looked forward to when those days would return in the spring. And when the days weren't so cold, he could bring his daughter out of the library and introduce her to the world. Springtime would be green again. 10 would never have to know how dark and desolate the world had been before.

9 couldn't begin to express how thankful he was for that.

Dumping his pack in the common room, he started right off for his bedroom. 10 and her separation anxiety would be thrilled to see him home. And he couldn't wait to give 7 a hug and a kiss. Nearly three hours was entirely too long for her to not be reminded of how much he loved her. How did she even survive? He felt like he just barely got by, himself, without her.

He walked into the bedroom to see 10 asleep on the bed, and 7 standing in the middle of the room with her back to him. She appeared to be deep in thought, but he was too happy to see her to keep from interrupting her reverie. Surely, she wouldn't mind.

"I'm home," he greeted.

At the sound of his voice, she flinched painfully and hiccupped softly, as if she had been crying. His excitement died down in a flash, as he realized that something was wrong. Very wrong. He walked right to her, intent on consoling his beloved, no matter what was troubling her.

"7, what's the matter?" he asked, trying to take her into his arms. "What's wrong? What—"

Without warning, she spun around and slapped his face as hard as she could. He was so startled he nearly fell over from the force; it hurt so much, he couldn't quite feel the pain at first. But while he hesitated, completely fazed, she slapped him again and shoved him back toward the door with a horrible, anguished scream.

"get out! Get out! I hate you! I never want to see you again! _Get out_!"

Before he even realized what was happening, he found himself back in the hallway, and the door slammed shut in his face. He heard the bar slide into place on the other side, locking him out, along with 10's terrified wailing and 7's continued screaming.

"How dare you come back here, you monster! How could you do this to me! I hate you! I hate you!"

He knew it was useless, but he desperately banged his fists against the door, praying she would let him in.

"7, open the door! Please! Tell me what's wrong. What did I do?"

"Don't you talk to me like that! I'm not stupid! If you're going to go, take your little brat and go!"

He heard her fall against the door and sink to the floor, sobbing helplessly, while 10 went on crying without attention. 9 stood back, unable to believe what was happening. His face stung fiercely, but not nearly as much as his utter confusion. What could he have done to her? What was he going to do now? If only he could get through that door to them, to comfort his frightened baby and hold his precious 7 close…

But if she wouldn't listen to him, maybe she would listen to someone else.

"7! 7, hold on. I'm going to get help. I'll make this right, I promise."

It had been months since he had run so fast. But in this dire moment, it didn't matter.

"2, come here! I need your help!"


	13. The Witching Hour

2 has an unspoken but well-understood need for anger management therapy, by the way. It's a theme of mine that I adore. So, when he seems out of character to you, please rest assured that he doesn't seem so to me. ;P

Barn Owl Girl, if you were checking for this update on the stairs again, I'm going to virtually thump you on the head. I hope you've learned your lesson. :D

2222222222

_The Witching Hour_

2222222222

2 was always glad to lend his help where it was needed, usually without hesitation. But when 9 described what had just happened, he couldn't believe it at first. Certainly, 7 had been unstable recently, because of the baby. It was to be expected, they all supposed. But this… It didn't sound like a frustrated, disoriented female body, unwittingly wreaking havoc on the world around it. It sounded more like affair of the mind, and it made 2 a little nervous. The mind can be a frightening place, and he had little experience in that field.

But his only daughter was in terrible distress, and she had locked herself in a room alone with a very new baby. Underequipped as he was, 2 was more than willing to try. So he marched alone down the hall, bracing himself for whatever he may find. He hadn't gone very far when 1 caught up to him.

"I don't like this," his brother grumbled. "I'll bet you anything that Pi has something to do with this."

"I feel it, as well," 2 agreed, feeling a chill run down his spine. That part of his memory that he suddenly couldn't reach—the memory of something he couldn't remember, but _must_ be there—flared in the back of his mind. He still wasn't sure if that blocked memory had even happened. But at the same time, he was more sure than ever that it had happened, because it had gone on warning him for days. And now this…

"What could she have done this time? What could she have done to my 7?"

"I suppose we'll all find out. The woman will be in good hands, I don't doubt. We'll get to the bottom of this. But… What about the child?"

"I haven't even figured out what I'll say to the mother yet. Don't rush me."

"Of course not. I'll… I'll be out here, should you need me."

2 appreciated that. It was nice to not be completely alone, as he walked into the proverbial lion's den.

"Thank you, 1," he said with a sigh. He left his brother nearby, and cautiously approached the locked door. Within, he couldn't hear 10 crying anymore; but he could very clearly hear 7 sobbing abysmally. It wrenched his heart to think she could be in so much pain—his strong, proud, sturdy 7, who never cried easily. He knocked gently on the door.

"7, it's me. Sweetie, please let me in."

He waited a moment, hearing footsteps. Then the bar on the door was thrown aside with a loud _shink!_ and hit the floor with a clank. In the blink of an eye, the door burst open and 7 all but flew out.

"Daddy!" she cried, throwing her arms around him. Her head sank onto his shoulder, and she went on crying, safe in the only shelter she had. She hadn't hugged him like this in a very long time. He had often wished she would, but this was nothing but troubling. Despite their difference in height, he wrapped his arms around her and stroked her scarred back, trying to soothe her.

Surely, this whole mess was just a huge misunderstanding. But she was in so much pain.

"Oh, my poor girl," he whispered, "my poor dear girl. Come inside and sit down, and you tell me everything, okay?"

He gently led her back into the bedroom, nudging the door behind him until it was only ajar. He attempted to sit 7 down in the rocking chair, but she turned away from it.

"I'm not sitting in that thing," she growled. "Built on _lies_…"

"You know, 7, your brother had his hands on it, as well."

That wasn't exactly helpful. So he took her hands, sat in the chair himself, and pulled her in a heap onto his lap. She still wasn't thrilled, but she didn't resist this time. Instead, she curled up and rested her head against his shoulder like a frightened little child. She sniffled pathetically once, twice, and then collapsed into tears again, burying her face in his warm chest.

While he rocked her and held her close to his heart, whispering soothing words, 2 looked up and searched the room for 10. He spotted her lying on the bed, sleeping rather peacefully. That was good. He hoped that she would stay that way for a while.

"7," he said after a while, "tell me what happened."

In a rough, shaking voice, she answered, "9 is leaving me."

"Yes, so I heard."

"So _now_ he tells everyone. Bastard…"

"7!" he scolded, giving her a cautionary squeeze. "How could you think such a thing? What on earth did he say to you?"

"_He_ didn't need to say anything. His little side dish told me everything."

"…Who?"

"Who do you think?" she sobbed. "That little brat, Pi! He's running away with her!"

"_She_ said that? And you believed her? But… Why would you do that? Why would you listen to her, and not your own husband who loves you so much?"

"He doesn't love me…"

"Nonsense! Of course he loves you, my dear. 7, can you not hear some of the things coming out of your mouth? This isn't you."

"But it's the truth," she insisted, sitting up to look at him. "It's the truth!"

"7… Your eyes…"

Her eyes were wrong. They were cloudy and fogged up from the inside. 2 had never seen anything like this before, but somehow he recognized it. Perhaps it was a long forgotten instinct, or something vague he had read in a book a long time ago.

"…You're blind."

She looked surprised and puzzled. "I can see you just fine."

"No, no. You're blinded from the truth. Something is keeping you from seeing it." He grasped her by the shoulders. "Think hard, 7, what else did she do to you? What did she do to you?"

"She stole my husband, is what she did to me! I don't know what I'm going to do—I need your help!"

"Yes, more than ever, it seems."

Frustrated that he was being vague again, she jumped out of his lap and began to pace, her head in her hands. "I'm going to have to raise my baby on my own. She'll never know her father. Only the empty hole where he said he would be. He promised he'd be there for her! Bad enough he's abandoned me… But what about 10? How could he do this to her? How could he just leave me to do this alone? It's not right! It isn't fair! I don't want to do this by myself!"

While she went on babbling nonsense, 2 rose from the rocking chair and walked to the bed. He silently regarded his sleeping granddaughter, blissfully unaware of what was happening around her. Her daddy would never, _ever_ leave her so easily. He was right down the hall, worried sick about her, and her mother, as well.

One thing, at least, was sure: while 7 was impaired like this, 10 couldn't be left alone with her. He bent down and gently picked her up, hoping she would remain asleep; she stirred and scrunched up her little face, ("Leave me alone, granddad, I'm trying to sleep, here!") but then relaxed and went on sleeping. Oh man, 7 wouldn't like him just taking her baby away from her, especially not now. But what else could be done? He couldn't put 7's very odd feelings above the baby's safety.

Deciding to take the direct route, he wordlessly turned and headed for the door—all routes would be abrupt and painful, so best to just _do_ it. 7 noticed at once and grabbed him by the arm.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"You can't be worried with a baby like this. I'll look after her."

"No—you're taking her to him! Don't let them take her away from me!"

"I'm not taking her anywhere."

"She's all I have left! Daddy, please!"

"He's not taking her anywhere and you know it," he snapped back, shaking her off. He couldn't recall being so harsh with her before. But by now, he'd had more than enough of her… foolishness. He hated thinking of his 7 as being foolish, but she wasn't herself.

Instead of fighting back, she took a few steps away, looking stricken and terrified.

"Daddy… You're supposed to be helping me… You're supposed to be helping me! Why are you helping _him_? He's a liar! They're all lying!"

10 woke with a start at her mother's yelling, and her eyes darted around in surprise, but thankfully she didn't start crying. 2 shook his head sadly and walked out the door.

"We'll be in the common room, whenever you're ready to be civil, young lady," he informed, and shut the door firmly behind him.

"Daddy, no!" she frantically yelled after him. "Bring her back! _Please_ bring her back!"

It broke his heart not to answer, but what was there he could say? His own pain was only punctuated by her anguished scream of despair, hardly muffled by the walls between them. In his arms, 10 squirmed uncomfortably and cried softly, wondering what was going on.

"Hush, blessed," he said with a cautious smile. "Granddad's got you right here. You're perfectly safe with me."

She didn't seem to be convinced. He supposed he wouldn't be, either. He stopped beside his brother, and they shared a moment of tense silence.

"Did you hear all that?"

"Every word," 1 agreed, giving 10 his finger to hold for comfort. She gave him a baleful look and stuck his finger in her mouth, which he had found he didn't mind. Even he had admitted it was cute. But they were too worried to notice.

"The child does need to be with her father," 2 said decidedly, "and he needs to see her. I don't know what we're going to do about 7, though…"

"He'll figure something out. He always does. Pi and her trickery are the least of the evils he's faced."

"And he'll be far from alone, this time."

"I have a terrible premonition that 5 will not be so willing to help."

"Confusticate and be bothered what he thinks of it! I'm in no mood for thinking of other people's feelings. Do you know how _I_ feel? I'm furious. I _feel_ like punching that girl in her pretty face and tossing her headfirst into the snow! I don't want her here plaguing us another second longer."

1 nodded slowly, looking vaguely pleased. "Always refreshing to see your _magnificent_ capacity for wrath pointed at someone else's head, for a change."

2 bobbled his head from side to side, appreciative of the sentiment, but too frustrated and angry to enjoy it much. "We should get back to the others," he said finally.

The rest of the clan was waiting, gathered in the common room—though Pi was distinctly missing. The lot of them were pretty much the same as when the brothers had left. 6 and 8 were sitting together against the far wall where they could see everything, waiting for a pertinent emotion to color their typically blank faces. The twins were huddled together in a corner, looking upset and unsure. 5 was sitting on the sofa, thinking hard about things, probably certain that Pi had nothing to do with what had happened. And 9 was pacing nervously in front of the fireplace, looking more worried than they had ever seen him—even more so than when they had left.

"We're back," 2 announced, earning the undivided attention of everyone present. When he saw his baby, 9 dashed right over to take her.

"Is she alright?"

"She's perfectly fine. Perhaps a bit disoriented, but nothing you can't fix, I'm sure."

9 smiled down at his daughter and she flailed around with a delighted squeal, overjoyed to see his face again. He kissed her little face and hugged her close.

"Oh, my precious girl, I was so worried about you."

2 felt his wounded hart warm up. There was no way in the fires of hell their 9 was leaving them. Satisfied that his only child was okay, the younger man looked up with worry still plastered over his face.

"What about 7? Did you find out what's wrong with her?"

2 hesitated, hating to be the bearer of such awful news. Sensing his brother's dilemma, 1 spoke up for him.

"She's convinced that you're leaving her."

To this, 9 looked horrified and crestfallen. "…But… But _why_?"

"Oh…" 2 sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly unable to look at him. "You're not going to like it, 9."

"I don't care. Just tell me. Please!"

Oh, if he had a dime for each time someone had begged him _please_ to do something today, he'd have… 40, 50, maybe 60 cents, give or take. He had lost count. That was entirely too rich for his liking.

"You may want to sit down for this."

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All she had to do now was wait a bit. Pi lay on her bed in the infirmary, waiting patiently as she could. She had dozed a while, waiting on the Bearer's return from the Emptiness; but she was woken by 7 screaming in heartbroken pain. When he found his wife out of sorts, filled with a sudden, unexplainable, overwhelming _hatred_ of him, he would be dazed and confused. And before he could gather his thoughts, she would swoop in and snatch him in that moment of weakness.

Because she found that 9 didn't have any outstanding mental weakness she could take advantage of. Even when drunk, he had an amazing presence of mind. Thus, if he was to have anything to get a foothold in, she decided she would have to generate it herself. Fortunately, his unyielding love for his wife gave her something to work with. Who cared if Alpha frowned upon it? The same love that made him so strong would prove his undoing.

That is, if everything went as she had planned…

And in a heartbeat, she realized that she had dozed entirely too long and had missed her window of opportunity. She heard a stampede of footsteps coming up the hall, along with 9's furious voice hollering her name, and various other voices imploring him to calm down.

_Alpha's going to kill me for this…_

She considered running and hiding, but they would surely see her in the hall. And where was she supposed to run to? Into one of the _locked_ bedrooms? To the woman who was now convinced she was running away with her husband? Yes, a _fine_ idea. She thought of darting under the bed, pretending that she had already fled, but who among them would fall for something like that? The only choice was to stand up straight and tall, and accept her fate as bravely as she could.

She wondered how vain it was to feel like Joan of Arc in this moment.

The Bearer exploded into the infirmary like a hurricane. On either side of him, the elders had him by the arms, attempting in vain to hold him back. 5 stood in front of him, trying desperately to block him and push him back; but it was about as productive as trying to stop the sunrise. There was no holding this storm back.

Pi continued to watch with morbid fascination as the five men struggled in the doorway before her—these men who she had only seen as calm, gentle, and loving with each other. 9 didn't even acknowledge his family trying to hold him back. His eyes were full of furious flame, and they were fixed, unmoving, on her.

Oh yeah, he knew what she had done. Pi saw no more use for her mask, and let all traces of pretended sweetness or innocence melt from her. She glared back at 9 with all of her real self, everything he already knew she was. Behind the barrier of his brother's arms, he stopped struggling quite so much and spoke in a loud voice.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded, his voice shaking with rage. "Tell me what you did to her!"

She lowered her head, but not her glare, silently daring him to ask again. She felt so defeated, backed into a corner, like a wounded, hunted animal. It was so unfair.

"Answer me! Tell me what you did! _Tell me_!"

"Fine," she growled, turning her head away. Her frizzy hair fell beside her face, hiding her expression. She sighed, wondering if they would even believe her.

"7 is under a spell," she answered, crossing her arms. "I've rewritten a part of her knowledge with something of my own making. She was only the arrow, 9—I was aiming for _you_. If only we'd been in the place I had planned at the same time, I would have succeeded."

The men were all silent, most of them disbelieving. Even though 9's expression had changed from fury to shock, she got the feeling that he was more than willing to believe her.

"Why?" he asked. "Why did you have to bring her into this?"

She rolled her eyes and looked up at him with a scoff. "It was a gamble." Tossing her hair off her shoulder, she added, "Looks like I've lost. Again."

He processed this, but then tensed up again. "How do I fix it? How can I break the spell?"

She gave him a devilish smirk. "You have to kiss her. True love is a rare force of nature—so when it's there, it has the strength to overcome anything in its way. Unfortunately, a love as true as yours could move mountains, if it had to. Breaking my spell is the least of what it can do."

He looked slightly surprised by how straightforward that sounded, and therefore relieved. Glad to dash his hopes, she scoffed at him again with a cruel smile.

"Easier said than done. She never wants to look at your traitorous face again, remember? She'll probably beat you to death if you get that close to her, now. Cleaning up a mess if never supposed to be easier than making it. Especially when it's someone else's."

The rage suddenly flared back to life. 9 pushed his brother out of the way and stormed right into her face. He towered menacingly above her, and she was frightened at first that he was going to hit her. She hadn't imagined he had the capacity to be so angry; who knew what he was capable of now? But she bravely stood her ground, looked him in the eye, daring him to strike her. Instead, he stuck his finger sharply into her chest.

"Get, Out. Of my house."

"…"

When she refused to answer or move at all, he snatched her by the wrist and dragged her to the door. The rest of them cleared the way, glad to finally be rid of her. Pi chose not to protest, and just let him haul her roughly behind him. It was a wonder he hadn't hit her yet, or that she was even still alive. As long as she was mostly unharmed, she intended to stay that way. What Alpha would do to her when she returned home would be bad enough, and would require as much strength as she had. She couldn't afford to fritter away her newfound health, provoking 9's temper.

It was tempting, though. His fury was so out of character, it was almost adorable…

The furious Bearer dragged her toward the entrance and out into the courtyard. She had never actually seen the outside of the building she had been in all that time; and, thanks to the snow, there wasn't much to see. The courtyard was circular, lined with rows of towering, snow-covered statues. Pi wasn't sure why, but she got an instant impression that they were supposed to be muses. Other than the dunes of snow that sparkled in the clear sunlight, the courtyard was clean and undisrupted by litter and debris, like the streets were. The clan had forged a wide, straight path through the snow from the library entrance to the gate on the other end of the circular courtyard wall, which led out into the Emptiness.

Which, of course, was exactly where 9 was taking her. When they reached the wrought iron gate, he all but threw her through one of the gaps in the bars—so hard that she nearly tripped and fell face-first into the snow.

"I've been merciful today, because I have things to take care of" he said angrily. "But if you ever, _ever_ come back here, you will not leave this place alive. Is that clear?"

She answered with another glare and furious, indignant silence. Oh, how utterly she had been foiled.

"Get out of my sight," he commanded, pointing out into the street. Without waiting to see if she would comply right away, he turned and stalked back up the path. Far ahead, waiting just inside the entrance, she could faintly see 1, 2 and 5 all waiting for him. When he caught up to them, he stopped briefly to say something… But then darted off out of sight, prompting the other three to follow him.

And now she was alone. There was nothing else to do but begin the long trek back to her own home, and brace herself for another confrontation. As she turned and made her way up the street, to the western part of the city, she shivered and cursed the bad run of luck she'd had.

_It's all _their_ fault, for being so damn thick,_ she decided. _Stupid fifth clan. I _will_ break one of them. I _will_ bring one of them back to be sacrificed. Every single one of them deserves that death. On my father _and_ my mother, I swear it will happen. One of these days…_

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"I want a watch established, with shifts, every night," he explained as they walked back to the common room. "And I think it's safe to say we need some kind of alarm system for the gate."

"If you had just done away with her and gotten it over with, we wouldn't have to put all these things in place," 1 pointed out.

"I'm not like that," he answered, turning to face the older man. After a pause, he continued, "It would have only lasted so long, anyway. Pi has sisters, somewhere, and probably a leader. They would find us on their own, eventually; better to just let her lead them to us, while we're expecting them, than to be taken by surprise a few years from now. If I could just march off and find them now, I would—but I can't. You all know that I can't.

"I'm sorry it has to be this way. But for right now… I just don't know what else to do."

9 felt aggravated and worried, to say the very least. And he was beside himself for letting Pi stay for so long. In hindsight, there had been _so_ many things he could have done to prevent all this from happening. All he really wanted was for his whole family to be safe. And for a while, he had thought that the world had become a relatively safe place to be. But _this_? Others of their own kind attacking them with evil magic? It was so deucedly unfair.

And there was still 7 to deal with. In this moment, his wife had to come first. No matter how long it was going to take, he _had_ to break the spell. It peeved him, but Pi was right—how was he supposed to get close enough to kiss her, when she wouldn't let him into their room?

Convinced he was leaving her, huh? Then he would just have to convince her otherwise.

"Look after everyone for me," he said quietly. "I'll be down the hall for a while. I don't know when I'll be back."

He had only taken a few steps when he was stopped by 1's cool hand on his shoulder.

"I suppose you believe everything she said about spells and such?"

"Well, yes I do."

"You would. It's outlandish and fantastic. Some would say you've lost your mind."

"Sometimes, fantasy is the only logical explanation for things."

To his slight surprise, 1 nodded approvingly. "I've always firmly believed that such evils are present in our world. And Pi's presence here has only strengthened that belief. Beware of what might be lurking behind that door of yours; evil can do a great many terrible things."

9 gave him a hopeful smile and answered, "But love can do more, I think."

"Godspeed, then, boy."

2 came to stand beside his brother and added, "Don't worry about things out here; we'll take care of them. You just bring our 7 back."

They parted ways on that positive note—positive, except for 5, who seemed to have gone numb. But 9 couldn't worry about him now, especially when he was under someone else's care for the time being. For now, there was only his bewitched, grieving wife, the kiss that would break the spell, and the locked door standing impossibly in his way. How was he going to get her to let him in? Or get her to come out? What could he say that would catch her interest? Surely, the part of her that Pi had erased was still there, pushed aside by the spell, trying to resurface. If only he could give it a little strength, some encouragement, to inspire her to open the door—even if only to scream at him or, yeah, sure, slap him in the face again. If only he could get that door unlocked…

He stood before his bedroom door, staring it down, unwilling to let its locked nature daunt him. On the other side of it, he could still hear 7 crying softly, and it broke his heart. He gently knocked on the door, wondering what reaction it might cause.

"7, honey, it's me again," he slowly called to her. "I want you to know, Pi isn't here anymore. She's gone. And she's never coming back. But _I'm_ still here. I haven't gone anywhere, and I'm never going to. Honey, please open the door. Please talk to me."

He couldn't hear her crying anymore, but he got no answer. Not that he had particularly counted on one.

"Well… Alright, then," he said decidedly, and sat down with his numbered back against the door. "If you don't believe me, I'll prove it to you. I'm not moving until you unlock the door and come out here, do you hear me? Remember what I said on our wedding day? When I promised to never leave your side, no matter what? I'm _not_ leaving you. I'm going to stay right here, as close to your side as I can, and I'm going to stay here for as long as it takes.

"…I'm serious, now. I'm not moving from this spot until you come out of there and talk to me. Even if it means I'll be sitting here in the middle of the hall for a week—for a month—for a year—I'm not giving up on you.

"I promise."

Still, he got no answer. He sighed a heavy, but quiet sigh, and settled against the door, making himself as comfortable as possible. This was going to be… Interesting…

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Author's Notes…

Pi will not be terribly important for the next chapter or so, but she is NOT out of the big picture. There's too much story left, still. She will probably get a chapter all to herself soon, so… Just stay sharp.

The next update is mostly more of 7 wailing like a punched baby seal into people's shoulders. And, naturally, there will be plenty of fluff to go 'round—but don't worry, Thomas Holmes II, I promise it will be tasteful. ;D


	14. Broken

_Broken_

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It was going to be a long and somewhat uncomfortable night, but 9 didn't care. He had sat there, outside the bedroom door for several hours, all by himself, and now it was evening. It seemed like he had been there much longer—it could have been an eternity already, if it had been an afternoon. And it was clear there was no getting into his warm, soft bed tonight. He sighed sadly, but crossed his arms resolutely and re-settled himself in place.

_My butt's gone to sleep…_

"I'm still out here, see?"

7 didn't answer. She had been silent for as long as he had been sitting there, and he didn't really expect her to say anything to him any time soon. But that was okay, he supposed. He could be patient. Still, the first of what could be many long nights would be cold, boring, and very lonely.

The sun was long gone, and the hallway was very dark and cold. After a bit, 6 came trotting down the hall with a thick blanket clutched in his hands.

"You should go to bed," he pointed out blankly.

"I'm not moving," 9 answered. "I'm staying right here until she comes out."

6 looked a little sad, but he nodded his head. "I… I knew you would say that. 2 wanted me to say…"

"It's good of him to be concerned."

"I brought you this," 6 said earnestly, handing down the blanket. "It's 4's. She doesn't want you to get cold."

"That's very sweet of her. 6… You really like her, don't you?"

He couldn't see his little brother's face well in the dark, but he imagined the striped 'punk must be smiling kind of sheepishly. He made a nervous sound, and changed the subject. "8 is taking the first watch tonight," he informed. "I wanted to help watch… But 2 says it's better for me to stay inside. I don't like it. I don't want her to come back. I want to help."

"We all have to help in our own ways. As soon as I break this spell on 7, I'll start taking a watch, too. But for now, you can help us by being your same genius self."

"But my same genius self scares them. I want to do more… But I wasn't made for more…"

9 admired 6's enthusiasm. Momentarily breaking his oath to stay put, he stood up and held his brother close.

"We all have our gifts, 6. It's better to use them whenever we can, as best we can, than to squander them by wishing we had someone else's special gift."

"I know."

Of course he would. 9 supposed he would be peeved as well, if his own gifts weren't particularly useful in a moment of need.

"Look after the twins for me. Keep them company, and tell them not to worry about things. Hey, everything will work out, somehow. When have I ever let you down?"

"You would never let us down. I trust you."

In this dark, lonesome hour, that was more encouraging than he had imagined possible. He gave 6 a final squeeze and sent him back to the light of the common room, asking him to say goodnight to everyone for him. He wrapped himself in 4's thick blanket, and the cold suddenly vanished from the equation. He felt impervious to it. Maybe the night wouldn't be so difficult, after all.

_I wonder what will become and 6 and 4…?_

Considering this, he sat back down against the door and resettled himself. His bottom complained profusely, having just begun to wake up, and his legs and back ached a little. Maybe he should stand up and stretch every now and again? If he could remember. Safe in his adopted daughter's blanket, he had begun to feel sleepy. He found himself drifting off into a dream within minutes.

And, naturally, he found himself dreaming of his wife. He looked up to find himself reliving a lovely moment from December, unaware that he was dreaming at all. He was just walking into the bedroom, freely pushing the door open to find 7 in the rocking chair, stitching cloth scraps into a colorful patchwork baby blanket. She was nearing the end of the project; the blanket fell over her knees, partially hiding her growing belly. As she bent over her work, diligently stitching with a broken-off needle and some red thread, she was quietly humming a made up tune she had been practicing.

But when she heard the door open, she looked up and smiled at him.

"_You're in early,_" she commented. _"How's the body coming along?"_

He felt an odd sense of déjà vu, but he didn't mind; he was glad to revisit this moment. He walked over and kissed the top of her head. _"It's coming along. How are you feeling?"_

"_Good, very good. Thank you for this chair. It works wonders, truly it does. I haven't felt so much like myself since…"_ She finished her sentence by gazing down at her belly and lovingly patting the swell.

He wondered if she realized how very unlike herself she was. But yes, her temper had been much steadier since she'd had the rocking chair to sit in. She hardly left it during the day, except to occasionally move to the common room. Even this heavy with child, she couldn't be kept from moving around, if she wanted to. He absolutely loved that about her.

After a moment, she returned to her work and picked up her humming where she had left off. 9 sat down on the edge of the bed and just watched her quietly for a bit. Then an idea struck him. He stood up and gently took the blanket and needle, laying it over the arm of the chair. He took her hands and helped her to her feet, slipping one arm around her waist and griping her hand loosely in his.

"_Your song is beautiful. Keep singing, please."_

She got the hint and placed her other hand on his shoulder with an appreciative smile. She began humming her song from the beginning, and they began to dance slowly to it. Even while hugely pregnant, she could still waltz as gracefully as a swan gliding effortlessly over clear water. She was as much like a swan as she was like the moon—elegant, romantic, and beautiful, but still aggressive and fiercely territorial. After a few turns, he began humming with her, in a harmony part he had slowly pieced together. She rested her forehead against his, as close as she could be with unborn 10 holding them apart. Amazingly, he felt as close to her as ever. Maybe even closer.

After a few more turns, she turned slightly to give him a big, full hug, without the baby getting in their way. He held her close, as tight as he could without hurting her. She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed happily.

"_I love you with all my heart."_

"_With my very soul, I love you. Both of you."_

The dream vanished in a flash, as the door was kicked sharply against his back. 9 sat up with a start, finding himself back in the dark hallway and feeling chilly, despite his blanket. He pulled it tight around himself, losing a brief battle with a shiver that ran down his spine. But he gathered himself and turned to look up at the door.

"Was I snoring again, honey?"

He got another kick in response, this one hard enough to push him a few centimeters forward. Apparently, a yes.

"I'm sorry," he said, rubbing his back. "You used to think it was cute."

"There's nothing _cute_ about you," she snapped from inside.

"If you'd let me sleep in my own bed, maybe I wouldn't snore as loudly."

"Never! I wouldn't let you sleep in _my_ bed if my life depended on it!"

"Alright, alright. I'll try to keep it down. I'm still out here, by the way, and I'm not going anywhere."

She didn't answer, but he heard her storm away, probably back to bed. If she was sleeping at all. Only the cold and crushing boredom allowed 9 to sleep. If it weren't for that, he was certain he would be wide awake.

"7? I love you."

Still no answer. Still not surprising. He decided to take a moment and stand up, stretching his stiff legs and back. He wished he could be back in his dream; he hadn't even gotten to the part of that memory when they had kissed, or when they had danced some more, or when the twins had run into the room and joined them. That had been a good afternoon…

He sighed sadly and sat back down, closing his eyes and hoping he would return to that dream. Instead, his subconscious took him to what felt like the present, only the way it should have been. The way it would have been if Pi had never come into their lives. In his dream, he opened his eyes and found himself in his warm, soft bed, snuggled beneath the thick quilt the twins had given as a wedding present. 7 was sleeping peacefully by his side, with 10's tiny body like a furnace between them.

Even though he could barely see either of them in the darkness, he could imagine their sleeping faces. It touched his heart, moving him to reach out and caress their faces. 10 slept on, undisturbed by her father's gentle touch. But he heard 7's eyes flicker open a bit, and he felt her smiling beneath his fingertips. She put her arm around him, slowly stroking his side. Her fingers weren't cold at all; in fact, he felt even warmer than before.

"_I love you,"_ she whispered sleepily, barely awake.

"_And I love you, my dearest."_

Again, the dream dissipated as the door was given another violent kick. This time, he was startled enough to fall over.

"If you can't stop snoring, go climb in bed with Pi," 7 snapped. "I'll bet _she_ thinks it's cute. I'll bet she thinks a lot of thing you do are cute."

"Pi isn't here," he answered, only half awake, himself. "And even if she were, she would be in pieces."

As his presence of mind returned, he decided to sleep against the other wall, where his snoring wouldn't bother her as much. He crawled across the hall until he bumped into the wall, and lay down on the floor, pulling his blanket as close around him as he could. He wondered at first why it didn't quite reach his feet; but then he remembered that it belonged to 4. She was shorter than him. Feh…

"I'm still out here, I just moved a little. But I'm still not going anywhere."

"Stop saying that! What are you trying to prove, anyway?"

"That I love you."

"It's not going to work."

"Regardless, I'm not moving."

"Stubborn bastard," she hissed, and then stomped back to bed.

Ouch. He tried to ignore how badly that stung by closing his eyes and drifting off again. This time, he dreamt of the future. The spell on his wife had been lifted, 10 was a strong, sturdy little girl, and Pi was nothing more than a distant memory. They were walking through the ruins together, with 10 holding their hands, just talking about everything she saw. It must have been spring or early summer, because the sun was shining warm on them, and the world was green, dotted with brightly colored flowers.

"_Daddy, were you ever a baby like I was?"_ the little girl was asking.

"_No, I'm afraid I wasn't."_

"_What about mommy? Mommy, were you ever a baby?"_

"_No, sweetie, I wasn't either."_

"_Do you wish you were?"_

"_Not really."_

"_It must be hard being a baby. You can't walk or talk or do anything. I don't really remember what it was like, but I'll bet it wasn't any fun."_

"_You were the most perfect baby we could have asked for,"_ 7 insisted. _"Sometimes, when you were learning, you got a little frustrated when you didn't quite get it right away. But you still had plenty of fun getting to know us."_

"_Did you have fun getting to know me?"_

"_Every single day."_

"_Will you have another baby someday? So I can have a little brother or sister to play with?"_

"_Maybe someday. But for now, we love just having you."_

10 beamed at her mother, and then looked up at 9. _"Daddy, how much do you love me?"_

He picked her up and planted her on his hip, pointing up at the sky. _"Do you see the sun? See how far away it is?"_

10 shielded her eyes and squinted up at the sun. _"Sorta…"_

"_Well, don't look directly at it, baby; it can hurt you that way."_

"_But it doesn't seem far away at all."_

"_It does seem that way, but the sun is actually very far away from us. It's way out in space."_

"_Wow. That's really far away."_

"_I know. It's an impossible distance."_

"_Oh, is __that__ how much you love me?"_

"_Nope. Not even close,"_ he answered, kissing her soft cheek. _"I love you much more than that."_

"_And mommy too, right?"_

"_That's right, my precious girl. And nothing can ever change that."_

"_Not even gravity? 'Cause granddad says that gravity's the most powerful force in the whole universe."_

"_If anything, gravity can only make me love you more."_

"_That's a lot. You must be a superhero, daddy!"_

7 laughed merrily and patted the child on the back. _"I think you're right, Dixie. He'll never admit it himself, but he's a hero to me."_

"_See, daddy? I knew you were a superhero! All that love would make other people explode or something. Do you think __I__ could be a superhero like you, someday?"_

With a smile, he took his wife in his free arm and cuddled them together. _"We think you already are."_

This time, the dream faded slowly, peacefully, as 9 woke up with his head on the hard floor. It wasn't as dark as it had been, with early morning sunlight streaming through the holes in the roof. He had no idea how much time had passed, or what time it was now, but it was definitely morning. Supposing that he wasn't going to get anymore sleep, he scooted back to his original post in front of the door.

_Not bad, for the first night. Now I just have to do it again tonight._

For another stretch of time, he sat leaning against the door, staring off into space, thinking about things. But it hadn't been very long, when the door suddenly fell out from behind him and he toppled backwards, hitting his head on the floor. He blinked a few times, letting the spots clear from his vision. And when they did, he looked up to see 7 towering above him, fists on her hips, and an unimpressed scowl on her face.

Even when angry, she was still inescapably beautiful.

"Why are you toying with me like this?" she demanded tiredly. "If you're going to leave, just do it. Haven't you caused me enough trouble already?"

"I could never leave you," he insisted from the floor. "You're my whole world. How could I leave someone as perfect as you, for someone like Pi?"

"Quite easily, apparently. …Where's 10?"

He rolled over and climbed to his feet as he answered, "In the common room, safe with her brother and sister. She isn't going anywhere, any more than I am."

7 paused and considered this. "I'm going to see her," she decided, trying to storm past him. Instead, he caught her in his arms and held her back. Naturally, she began to struggle.

"No! Let go of me!"

"I can't, and you know it. You know I won't let you go—somewhere deep inside, you know it."

She stopped struggling briefly, to look him fiercely in the eye. "I did what you wanted," she growled. "I opened the damn door, I looked at your stupid face, and I talked to you even though it made me sick! What more do you want from me?"

Oh wow. This close, he could see what 2 had meant about her eyes. It was like someone had filled them with wispy clouds, obscuring her vision. She couldn't see her 9 through that haze—only a monster out of a nightmare. This _had_ to stop.

"I want you to be free," he answered, even though she didn't know what he meant. "I want with all my heart for you to be free of this."

"You're crazy! Get off me!"

"I'm not letting you go, 7! I refuse to give up on you!"

"Stop pretending you love me! I know that you don't!"

He gripped her by the shoulders and pulled her as close as he could.

"I _do_ love you! I love you with everything I am, and I'm going to prove it!"

Without hesitating another second, he mashed his face against hers and kissed her as hard as he could—decidedly not the sweetest kiss they'd ever shared, but at least it was happening. She screamed furiously and beat her fist hard against his shoulder, trying to wrench away from him. The pain from her strike was sharp and firry, and he nearly lost his grip, but…

She was relaxing. With every second, her fury slipped a little further away. He pulled away slightly to look at her, to see if her eyes had changed yet. She looked back at him in confusion, her black pupils darting back and forth over his face as if she couldn't quite remember him, or what was going on. And as he watched, he saw the cloudiness fade away. At the same time, 7 gave a heavy, almost ethereal sigh; her breath came as an icy mist against his skin, chilling him through, but only momentarily. Its meaning warmed his heart right back up:

The spell was broken.

He held his hand to her cheek, nuzzled her face, whispered her name, trying to bring her senses back. She seemed lost, as if she had just woken from a dream to find herself sleepwalking.

"Look at me. 7, look at me. It's me."

She blinked at him, raised her fingers to brush his face. Her eyes suddenly went wide, and she gasped in horror as realization came over her. She threw her arms around him with a strangled cry of distress. He tucked her head into his shoulder, hiding her safe from the world, as she drew deep, shaking breaths of air.

"I couldn't see you," she whispered. "I couldn't see you…"

"It's okay now, it's okay," he whispered back, rocking her slowly. "It's over, my love. I'm here now. You're safe here."

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "I… I didn't believe her. I _didn't_, not for a second, and then… She did… _something_ to me, I don't know what. I was locked in this dark place, where there was only fear. And I believed everything she said—I didn't want to, but I did, I just _did_!"

"Sweetheart…"

"I thought I lost you, 9. I thought I lost you…"

"It would take a lot more than a witch like Pi to separate me from you."

She looked up at him with her lip quivering pathetically. She covered her mouth with her hand and looked away, horribly ashamed of herself.

"Forgive me. I'm _so_ sorry…"

He took her hand in his own and pressed his lips to her fingers. "This wasn't your fault. There's nothing to forgive."

"Yes there is! If I had been paying attention, if I had been stronger, if I had… I could have stopped this."

"It's no one's fault but hers. Pi did this to us, and the rest of our family, and you didn't do anything to deserve it. I could forgive you of anything, even the worst crimes in the world. But how can I forgive something you didn't do?"

She nodded vaguely, understanding, but sad and tired. He pulled her back and she slumped against him, burying her face in his shoulder. They were united again, and that horrible nightmare was over.

"Honey, you need to see your baby. And she needs you."

"She didn't hurt any of them, too, did she?"

"No, no, everyone's fine."

"…What about 5?"

9 hesitated to answer that. He had no idea where his brother was, or what he was doing. But he could imagine him brokenhearted and depressed. In spite of everything Pi had done to them, he supposed he could understand, a little.

"Oh, 5… I think he just needs some time."

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The watch had been established on the second floor—territory that was mostly uncharted yet, since getting there and back again had proven difficult and dangerous in the past. However, with the combined efforts of three builders, an elevator like the one from Sanctuary had been constructed in the fall. And while it had allowed for exploration recently, it also allowed a decent view for a watchtower.

Since he had been the first to take a watch shift, 8 had already chosen and set up a sort of base. It had been strategically chosen, set before the blown-out window with the clearest, straightest view of the courtyard. Everything within the big, circular wall was clearly visible, and so was the street beyond. If anything dared to move outside, the one on watch duty would know it.

In his "wisdom", the giant had also built a small fort out of books to keep out the cold. He had also stocked the fort with things he supposed would be useful. When 5 had arrived for his shift, he was a little surprised to find that they had a fully prepared base. There were blankets for the night watch, and a thimble with a decent campfire crackling inside. There was an old pocket watch for keeping time, and paper for keeping notes on. There were matches and candles, and even a magnifying glass for a makeshift searchlight. And there was a tarnished sailor's whistle that could be blown as an emergency alarm.

A bit disconcerting, 5 also found an arsenal of spears and other projectiles in the fort. Ignoring the weapons, he had grabbed a blanket and sat down to stare vengefully at the horizon. He had barely moved for hours.

That had been late the night before, and now the sun had risen. 8 had returned hours earlier to take a second shift, but 5 had shooed him away. He couldn't remember ever having the nerve to shoo anyone away, much less huge, hulking 8; but he was too angry to care. And the giant had wordlessly turned and left, sensing his brother's very foul mood. After that, 5 had been all alone in the cold with only his thoughts for company.

And mostly, there was only one thing he could think of—Pi. In the last few minutes he had seen her, she had been a completely different person than the girl he had come to know. She had become someone horrifying and cruel. She had suddenly become exactly what everyone else had seen, but had been hidden from him.

He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't. Not his Pi, who was gentle and sweet, and beautiful—so very beautiful, inside and out. She would never do something so terrible to them. She was a good girl, and it was unfair of his family to treat her like a monster.

Except… She _was_ a monster. She had confessed everything. There was no possibility, no excuse, no explanation that could change it. He had been so wrong about her, and now he felt so strange. How could he have missed it? How did she fool him so well for all that time? She had lied to him, and hurt his whole family; and his blindness kept him from seeing it, or even listening to them. He felt so betrayed, and so hopeless.

But then, no, he didn't. Something deep inside him refused to give up hope in her. He couldn't begin to explain it—by all accounts, he had every right to hate her now. He had every right to curse her name and her treachery, wish her a slow, painful death, and pray he'd never see her wicked face again. He knew it was less than what his family would be doing, on the floor below him. But no. He amazed himself by feeling no anger, and no hatred. Just sadness. Just deep, overwhelming disappointment in her, and sorrow in being so parted from her.

On the flip side, he found himself furious with his brother again. He hadn't been so angry, or so jealous in nearly two weeks, and its sudden return was slightly confusing. It wasn't 9's fault that his wife had been attacked. It wasn't his fault that Pi was a threat and had to be sent away. But…

Stupid 9, it was _all_ his fault. Him, with his perfect wife, perfect little baby, and everything going so _perfectly_ his way. Was it not enough, that he had to rub it in everyone's faces by ripping his brother's happiness to pieces?

"Is it so much to ask for?" he asked the sun. "Is it really _so_ much to ask for a chance? He keeps saying he hopes I'll get one; but it's only until he's actually faced with it, isn't it? It's only alright until I have the possibility of a chance—because how could someone like me ever have a real chance to love someone else? He just can't stand the idea that maybe—_just_ maybe—I could make a family of my own. I could love a woman and children just as much as him! And he can't stand it!"

"That is least true thing I've ever heard."

5 felt his heart skip a beat, realizing he had been heard, and who he had been heard by. He turned to see his father advancing on him from the elevator. How had he not heard it coming up? 2 stopped and stood beside him, arms crossed, unimpressed.

"Is that what you've been sitting on all this time? You should have come and talked to me about it. I could have helped you."

Still sitting on the floor, 5 rolled his one eye, not in the mood for being lectured. "What do you expect me to say? Would _you_ have wanted to talk about it?"

"Wants are relative. What you've been doing to yourself, it isn't healthy. You must speak with your brother about this."

"Make me."

"…Do you have any clue what he did to bring you back? He defied the laws of nature for you, and he did it out of love. Is this truly how you're going to repay him?"

"If he only brought me back to hurt me like this, he should have left me where I was."

"And you claim to want a family of your own. Why? Is it truly out of love, or only revenge?"

"Maybe there's room for revenge."

"Then you have no business meddling in such affairs."

"I don't care!"

2 was silent for a long moment, and sadly so. With a defeated sigh, he turned and walked away.

"The spell on 7 has been broken, if it pleases your interest at all," he informed as he climbed into the elevator. "It was she who sent me looking for you, in the first place, you know. Whenever you're ready to face your demons, or at least be pleasant, you know where to find us."

No, it didn't really please his interest. The last traces of Pi had been erased, and now she was nothing more than a memory—even if it was his sister. He didn't intend on going down there to face his celebrating family any time soon.

_It was about time something bad happened in their perfect little lives. If only it had lasted a little longer…_


	15. No Rest

And we have broken 6,000 words again! A good chapter to be long, too—it's SO full of half-explained backstory and epic foreshadowing, I don't know where to begin. So I'll just let you start at the beginning and make your way forward.

Also, if anyone follows me on deviantart and hasn't seen yet, or if anyone doesn't follow me on deviantart and would like to see, I've posted an adorable picture of Delta, Gamma and Theta. You'll finally meet them in this chapter. ;)

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_No Rest_

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Ug. What a tedious journey it had been through the ruined city. Pi had spent three days trekking through the snow, getting lost and turned around, but finally her home was in view. Once upon a time, her creator had lived in a small brick home in the urban part of the city—surprisingly close to the fifth clan's library, but then, perhaps not so surprising at all. Today, five years after the war, all that remained of the charming little house was the garage, and the basement safe underground.

Pi could still remember the room she had first opened her eyes in, when the house was still whole. It had seemed like it belonged to a little girl, and she had always felt that the room suited her well. The house had been meant for a family with children. Children her mistress was never able to have. Her own band of Stitchpunks had filled that void, however briefly. There had been eight of them, then: Epsilon and Sigma, who raised her; Kappa the giant, who had been been killed in the war, protecting their clan; Mu, her vain and shadowy older sister; Pi, herself, kind of in the middle; and then Delta the Prophet, spritely Gamma, and quiet Theta—the triplets. They were once a functional, good-looking little family, she supposed.

Her father had told her a long time ago about their creator. He had claimed she had been a witch of frightening caliber, but that she had been responsible, clever, and even kind with that power. It was only thanks to the woman's warding right that the garage was still standing, mostly unharmed by the ravages of war. Even now, Pi could feel the familiar tingling of the wards as she approached.

"She would have warded the whole house for us, if she'd had the strength," Epsilon had once said. "Alas, she needed it for… other things…"

Not long after the woman died, their clan's Bearer, Alpha appeared with a very magical talisman in hand. Pi didn't know much about the thing, except that each clan had one, and that the final creation of each clan—the Bearer—was responsible for returning it to the ones it had created. It was a place of honor and authority, though one or two had chosen not to accept the prestige their title granted them.

Alpha was not one of them. In time, he had come to replace Epsilon as the leader of her clan; in the time before that, he had claimed her older sister, Mu, as his mate. Not his wife, she had come to notice—the other clans all seemed to observe the practice of formal marriage, but Alpha hadn't cared for the idea. And neither had Mu, who had always been a very sinister young lady. They had looked down on such a thing as constricting, confining, and pointless.

Epsilon and his own _wife_, Sigma, hadn't liked it; but they had respected the choice of their eldest daughter and Bearer by staying out of their business. For herself, Pi was never able to really notice if they had "business" or not, because Mu was gone a lot, while Alpha stayed behind with them. And while he stuck around, he passed much of his time by arguing constantly with Epsilon. Pi didn't entirely blame her sister for being gone so much; she supposed that if she were mated with someone as argumentative as Alpha, she would run away, too.

But Mu always came back after a few weeks or so, usually accompanied by someone from another clan. They might be guides who helped her find her way home, or new friends she wanted to introduce to the family. But they never stayed longer than the night before disappearing, not to be seen again.

And then everything would be fine for a while with the happy little couple. But it wouldn't last long, and Mu would take off again. After this cycle had repeated itself a few times, Epsilon and Sigma had become suspicious and worried. Pi had been worried about her big sister, too, and the triplets had been confused and scared.

Especially Delta, the oldest triplet, and the clan's Prophet, who had already been having strange dreams. Ever since Alpha had appeared, she had slept poorly. And then her visions became more frightening. She had seen dark, willowy Mu, all alone in the open, with terrible, raging storms chasing after, as if they could gobble her up and swallow her whole.

Then one day, Epsilon went out scouting for supplies, saying that he would be gone for the day. Instead, he returned in less than an hour, carrying Mu's dying body in his arms. She had been cut down by a blade, perhaps only hours earlier, a short hike from their home. It was a wonder that she had still been alive.

And before noon that day, she was gone.

After that, Pi's memories of the last few years were hazy. Though she remembered a few brief, crystalline moments with astonishing clarity. She couldn't really remember burying her sister, or how sad she had been, or… if she had even been sad at all. But she would forever remember when Alpha took her aside and spoke gently to her, easing her grief, and suddenly, boldly professing his love for _her_, now that Mu was gone. After that, she was given an explanation for everything that had bothered her all that time.

Sacrificed souls. He needed them to survive. The piece their creator had put in him had been the worst part of herself, corrupted and wicked, and fully equipped with all her knowledge of the dark arts. He had given Mu, his mate, the honored task of going out to acquire the souls he needed, while he remained behind to shepherd the others. He had taught her the dark arts, to aid in catching her prey, and to protect herself.

And now, he was giving the task to Pi.

"I am a god among our kind," he had said to her. "And I ask you to be my mate and high priestess. Dare you refuse?"

The way Pi remembered it, she had accepted his offer without hesitation, or even asking her parents about it. However, whenever she thought of it, she was certain that she was remembering it wrong. It seemed like things were missing from that memory. Why _hadn't_ she asked Epsilon and Sigma for advice? Why _had_ she agreed to Alpha's proposition so quickly? It didn't seem like the self she thought she knew. In fact, in moments of weakness, she looked back on it and realized that it should have sounded absurd and horrifying to her young mind. She ought to have turned and fled, screaming for help.

But those moments would pass, and she would remind herself that she wasn't a little child to go crying for her mommy. She was in charge of herself and what she did, and when she did it. She didn't need her parent's permission to be mated with their very handsome Bearer, if he asked her. She was probably a better mate to him than her sister ever was. He loved her, and took care of her. And questioning anything he had ever said was wrong of her, after how good he had been to her.

She also couldn't remember when Epsilon and Sigma had passed away, or how. She supposed she had been away when it happened, and had been too pressed for time to take much notice of it. That also didn't seem quite right to her; even if her decisions were none of their beeswax, she remembered being very close to her parents. She remembered them loving her very much, and loving them back. But they seemed to have vanished shortly after her sister died. That was odd…

But being a high priestess, in charge of reaping delicious souls for a hungry god is hard work, and very distracting. She supposed she just might not have been home enough to notice; and then, after a while, it became nothing more than another thing that had happened. Kappa and Mu had already died. It was over. And so, her parents had also died, and it was also over.

Today, she marched through the deep snow to the garage, to the loose bricks that made their entrance. Pi hesitated to go in right away; she knew that Alpha would be waiting to admonish her for messing up so badly in the last few weeks. First, the Jaco-Punks had discovered who she was, and then they had beaten her within an inch of her life. Then she was awarded a second chance by the illusive and fully intact fifth clan, and didn't manage to drag a single one of them back with her. It had been months since Alpha had eaten, and she was empty handed. This was the first time she had let him down, and she had let him down mightily. She wondered what he had done to Mu, when she had returned without a sacrifice. She hoped for her own sake it hadn't been painful…

As she rounded the side of the garage and found the entrance, she was met by an almost welcoming sight. Delta was standing just outside, a blanket around her shoulders, waiting patiently for her big sister to return. Of course the clan's Prophet would be expecting her shortly—she had probably foreseen every step and wrong turn Pi had taken trying to find her way home. Like all the other Prophets Pi had seen, her sister was gentle and soft-spoken, perhaps a bit loopy from her visions, and looked nothing like the rest of the clan she belonged to. Delta was pale, minty green, like her twins; and her long braid of nut brown hair reached about to her waist. But she kept her head, face and shoulders covered with a veil of lavender colored cloth, which also wrapped around her waist and legs like a toga. The girl looked as Greek as her name—which was much more than the rest of them.

She had never liked people being able to see her face, plagued with a superstition that people could see her very personal visions on her face somehow. Therefore, she covered her whole face but her eyes, so that she could see. And today was certainly no exception. But just from looking at her eyes, Pi got the impression that behind her veil, Delta was fretful and worried.

"Thank goodness you're home," Delta said rather flatly. "I had begun to fear that my visions of your return were wrong, and that I might be going crazy."

"You're not crazy," Pi insisted. "You don't seem happy to see me."

"There's nothing much to be happy about here anymore. Even when you come home, death follows you so closely. And today, Alpha's going to hurt you."

"Have you seen something that could help me?" Pi asked hopefully.

Delta shook her head and gazed down at the snow. "No. Only numbers. Numbers, numbers… Numbers… _Odd_ numbers. They surround you like a cloak, still. It's like you've brought them back with you, anyway. I feel them…"

She reached out her dainty hand to feel the air around her sister, as if there was, indeed, something very solid there. Pi took her hand and held it for a long moment, wishing that Delta didn't guard her personal space so militantly. Along with her other quirks, Delta didn't like being touched suddenly; hugging her was next to impossible. Once again, a far cry from her very snuggly twins.

"Del, where are Gamma and Theta?"

"Inside, waiting. Alpha's waiting, too… I don't want you to go in there, Pi. I'm scared. He says that I'll be next."

Pi gave her hand a squeeze. "Don't worry, you won't be next. Let's just get this over with, okay?"

Delta sighed sadly and nodded her head, leading her sister into the garage. Inside, it the air was close and quite warm, and Pi immediately felt her numb digits regain some feeling. She was also accosted by her other sisters—red-headed Gamma, and blonde Theta. They came upon her so suddenly and with so much force, they knocked her to the ground, dragging Delta along with them. The four sisters fell to the floor in a tangle of arms, legs, and laughter.

"Oh, Pi, you were gone for so long!" Gamma cheered, giving her sister the biggest hug she could manage. "We were getting scared you wouldn't come back!"

Theta remained silent, happier to let her outspoken twin do most of the talking. But she nodded her head vigorously with an overjoyed smile, and also gave Pi an enormous hug. It always seemed like they each tried to squeeze in half an extra hug, to make up for the whole hug that Delta never offered. Overjoyed to see them, as well, Pi gathered her little sisters into her arms and held them close for a long, splendid moment.

"Of course I came back," she whispered. "How could I leave you girls?"

At the very idea, the girl's hugging changed to more of a clinging desperately, and Gamma shivered. "Don't ever leave us with him, Pi," she whimpered. "Don't ever leave us with him. He's scary and mean, and he would hurt us like you and everyone else."

Pi wasn't sure exactly what Gamma meant by that. "Nonsense. Alpha wouldn't do anything to hurt us—not after he's taken such good care of us all."

"But he _said_ he would hurt us."

"Then you should behave better when I'm not here to look after you. You're big girls. You should both know better by now."

All three triplets sighed and wilted sadly at the same time, looking defeated.

"Oh yeah, we forgot," Gamma said for all of them. "Yeah, we know…"

"Look," Pi said gently, cuddling them closer, "I know things have been hard since mother and father passed away, but it's no reason to be disrespectful."

She was about to say more, about how Epsilon and Sigma wouldn't have stood for their misbehavior. But her line of thought was interrupted by a low, rather cruel chuckle from nearby.

"Well-spoken advice, from such a naïve little girl. If only you were as devoted a high priestess as you are a big sister, I'd want for nothing."

Pi looked up with a scowl at her master, standing not too far away. The handsome male Stitchpunk before her was jet black from head to toe—say for the one large button over his heart, which blazed red against the rest of him. And his eyes. His pupils burned like lasers into her own as he stared her down, a mocking, threatening smirk stretched painfully over his face.

Pi didn't speak, because she found that she suddenly had nothing to say for her failure. All she could think of to do was hold her trembling sisters all the closer to her chest, shielding them as best she could. Delta scooted behind her for shelter, peering fretfully over her big sister's shoulder. Ignoring their obvious discomfort, Alpha began to pace around them, his ebony hands held secretively behind his back.

"Oh… I have only myself to blame, in the end. I should have known better than to send such an inexperienced child after the fifth clan. Any clan that can disappear so completely for five years, and then reappear perfectly intact is _clearly_ beyond the skills of a beginner like you. If only Mu were still alive—she would have known better than to fall asleep in the middle of setting a trap."

Pi tried to let his sharp, pointy words bounce off her skin, tried to keep them from sinking into her mind. She _hated_ people calling her a child, even if she still was one. But it stung as hard as if he had slapped her in the face. Alpha came to a stop in front of her and was silent for a long, tense moment.

"Get up," he commanded. "Put them down and get up, so I can see you."

Giving her sisters a final, reassuring squeeze, she released them and shooed them off. She listened to them skittering away as she climbed to her feet; but she knew they were watching, and she wished they wouldn't. Whatever happened next, she was certain they didn't need to see it. Keeping her face as blank as possible, she looked up to face her master head on. She expected him to scream at her, perhaps even beat her for her utter failure. He had a nasty temper when hungry, though she had never personally tried it like this before.

But instead, he remained incredibly clam. His gaze was critical, assessing every centimeter of her as if he was searching for something.

"I sense your recent escapades have weakened you," he said finally. "The use of so much raw power is wearing you thin; and your exposure to the strengths of the fifth clan have left you confused. It's time for a fresh coat of paint, don't you agree, my pet?"

Pi dared to let a look of confusion color her blank face. "…I would, if I understood. I don't know what you mean, love."

He placed his knuckle under her chin and gently tipped her head back to see her face better. "Yes, I know you don't. I'm afraid that's also my fault, but it's been better for everyone this way. It's a wonder this spell still holds any sway over you; this adventure of yours has worn it to rags. But you don't worry your pretty head over that, my Pi—Master will take care of everything."

Startled, she backed away a little. "What spell? What are you talking about? Alpha, you would never… Not to me!"

"Fear not, my priestess, you'll remember in due course," he informed her bluntly, and sharply cast his fingers at her face. He spoke the familiar, sinister words of a spell, and she felt the effects wash over her like water. It felt like her mind had been bound tight with string, and now the knots were undoing themselves, releasing memories that had been held back for so long.

At first, she was dizzy, overwhelmed as the false memories vanished to be replaced with what she had known to be true all along. She remembered who she really was, behind the spell—the sweet, innocent little girl who had accepted this fate to spare her family. Only to hand her parents over to be killed, in the haze that enveloped her for so long. All the pain she had caused… All the destruction she had left in her wake… All the lives she had helped snatch away…

A wave of guilt punched her in the stomach. For a surreal moment that seemed to last for ages, she had no idea where she was, or if she was even alive. She was about to cry, when she looked up at Alpha for comfort or guidance, or _something_. But seeing his face, she also remembered what had to come next. Her old self was back in control—the person her mother and father had fought so hard in vain to keep safe. Suddenly, there was no room to feel guilty or confused or afraid anymore. There was only room for one thought:

_Run_.

Alpha knew it, as well. He knew the person who was trapped beneath his spell, the sleeping giant he had woken. Before she could bolt away, he seized her by the arms and held her fast. Pi screamed in terror. It had been so long since she had tasted freedom. The idea that she would be stuffed back into that cage made her tremble with fear, and she began to cry.

"Alpha, no! Please don't do it again, _please_ don't!" she begged.

"'Alpha, no, Alpha, no,'" he mimicked, mildly amused with her fear. But all traces of amusement vanished in the blink of an eye, replaced by a threatening glare. "Very well then, Pi. Perhaps you'd prefer it if it was _your_ pathetic soul slaking my hunger, while your waif of a sister takes your place! Is that what you want? I can arrange it, girl, just say the word. Go on! Say it!"

"No, no, I'll do it! I'll do it!" she cried. "Just leave my sisters alone! They're all I have left! They're all I've got—just leave them! Leave them!"

Pleased that he had won this round—like all the others—Alpha grinned evilly into her miserable face.

"They're all you've got, huh? Now doesn't _that_ sound familiar?"

He released his painful grip on her arms, practically daring her to turn and run from her fate. As it was, Pi couldn't find the strength to hold herself up. She collapsed, falling to her knees, and let her head sink into her hands as she continued to sob uncontrollably. What else was there to do? She knew that she didn't deserve the company of good people like the fifth clan; but oh, how she longed for them to be there. If only one of them could see what was being done to her, and her sisters, they would understand. And they would help her.

What she wouldn't give for 2 and his gentle, comforting hand on her shoulder. Or for 9 and his unyielding, powerful presence to combat her master. Or for 7 and her ferocity, or 8 and his strength to guard her and keep her safe. Or for 5, who loved her…

Dear lord… He really _had_ loved her all that time. And now that she was herself again, she looked back on things and realized with a start—she loved him right back. It was probably what had made her hate him so much while under that wretched spell. If anyone was going to save her, it would be 5. It _must_ have been. There were so many times when it had been right in front of her, right in her reach. She could have been freed forever. Freed to explain everything, free to get help, free to free herself and her sisters from this monster.

But how could a soft, caring heart like 5's love her now? After all that happened and what he had seen of her? No. She was doomed now. There was nothing left she could do but resign herself to her fate. It was so frightening, so painful…

"Pi. Look at me."

The sound of Alpha's voice made her sick. She slowly raised her head up out of her hands, refusing to give him the satisfaction of total compliance. Instead, she scowled up at him, her face full of defiance.

"I hate you," she hissed. "I _hate_ you."

Alpha didn't look impressed, nor did he seem to care. He flexed the fingers of his left hand and pointed them back at her face.

"You always were a clever little girl," he mused. "I can only imagine what you must be going through right now. But don't worry, my dear. In a moment, none of this will be there to bother you anymore."

He spoke the words of the spell in a low voice—the spell that would allow him to rewrite parts of her memory with his own story. The spell began by holding her in place, leaving her unable to move or react while he worked. There was little point in mentally struggling against him, but she couldn't help but try. Alas, the invisible pen broke past her. She had no choice but to hear what he had to say.

"Listen to me: you are Pi, my high priestess. And I am the god you serve. You are the single most important person in the world to me. You are the one responsible for keeping me alive. Your purpose is to go out into the world, finding souls that I can feed on, and bringing them back to me to be sacrificed in my name. And for that, I love you, and you love me, and none can stand in our way.

"The souls of the other clans exist for one reason—to be sacrificed to keep me alive. And until every last one of them has been consumed, you will keep taking from them. It is an honor to serve your god in this way, and you are to be faithful in your purpose. You have failed this time, but I will offer you another chance to fulfill that destiny.

"Your sister was slain by one of the rebellious clans. Your mother and father passed away while you were hunting in my name. Your other sisters will remain here, safe in my care, while you aren't here to watch over them. They are in the care of a god, and no harm will come to them.

"The fifth clan is a challenge beyond your skills, and you are not to deal with them unless I tell you to. They weakened you, broke you apart, dared you to question me. They _all_ deserve to die—from their resilient Bearer, down to his little brat. We hate them for that. And we will get our chance to take them. When you've become strong again, we _will_ make them suffer for what they've done to you.

"And never forget, Pi, that I cherish your service and all that you do. You are beloved to me. Let no one tell you differently."

After an aching stretch of time, she felt everything that had just happened be wiped from her mind. She found his lies there, instead. Except… They weren't lies. This was the truth.

She felt this truth settle over her like a fine, grand robe, and she gazed around in confusion. It appeared she had been on her knees on the floor, crying. But why should she be crying, when her beloved Alpha was standing before her? It made no sense. She looked back up at him for direction.

"Alpha, what just happened?" she asked. "What am I doing on the floor?"

He chuckled again, less cruelly this time, and extended his gunmetal hand to her. "My silly dearest, you tripped over your own feet."

"Ah…" Pi couldn't remember tripping, but it didn't matter. If her Alpha said that she tripped, she supposed she _must_ have tripped. He would _never_ lie to her. She took his hand and he hauled her to her feet. Seeing she was still a little confused, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding her close.

"My Pi, your journey has tired you," he said, almost gently. "You must rest, before you go out again."

"No, no," she insisted, shaking her head. "I failed my mission. I've been gone for too long, and I returned empty-handed. Oh, Alpha, you must be starving! I can't leave you like this."

"I can wait a bit longer on you, my love," he answered, bestowing a kiss on her forehead. "Without your strength, I would never eat. I want to see a healthy priestess going out in my name. You're worn to your wit's end. Gentle Pi, lie down and rest."

"Alpha…"

"Do as I say, woman."

She still disapproved, but she sighed and nodded her head. "Okay, I suppose it's for the best, then."

He gave her an approving smile, and then turned to look at a nearby watering can on the floor, where the triplets were hiding. Only a half of each of their heads were visible, peering out from behind the rusting watering can; but each pale green head was instantly identifiable by the blaze of color it was topped with.

"Oracle! Come out here!"

"Delta, please come along," Pi called out, a little more gently. Shaking a little, the veiled girl eased out into the open and stood in silence, awaiting her orders.

"Do what you do, and tell me which clan is nearest to us," Alpha commanded. "When Pi has regained her senses, I need her to go and return _successfully_ as quickly as possible. Is it understood?"

Delta silently nodded her head, mumbling a frightened, "Yessir," that was almost impossible to understand.

"Del, there's no reason to be afraid," Pi insisted, unable to help laughing at her sister's antics. "It's just him. You act as if he's terrifying."

She sighed to herself, feeling confident and proud, and mature. Whatever that weakness had been on her way home, it was over now. She was her good old grown-up self again. That in mind, she felt like she certainly should do the wise thing, and rest before going on another hunt. With that decided, Alpha steered her towards his personal sleeping space, insisting slyly that he would join her eventually.

She looked over her shoulder only briefly to watch him stalking like a panther back to his elegant throne. It had been salvaged from a spider-like monster that once roamed the city. It _had_, until it found Alpha's sword stuck through its skull. He had dragged the carcass home and set it up as a throne for himself, and it suited him wonderfully. He insisted that he had enchanted it to move at his will, should he need to travel quickly, but Pi had never seen it. Not that she doubted him for a second; but she hoped that one day, she would get a chance to see dead, empty body of the spider roar to life, and take off charging across the vast emptiness.

As she lay down in Alpha's bed, she let the vision of her master, flying across the city on the back of a magnificent black spider fill her mind. It was a lovely image to drift off to, and she was sleeping in seconds.

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The sun had already risen the next day when Pi woke. But she woke to find herself nestled in Alpha's strong, powerful arms. She suddenly felt so dainty and feminine beside him, and it made her feel all the more powerful. She relished it for a peaceful moment; but she still had a mission to return to. Her god was hungry and needed a sacrifice soon. She had wasted too much time already. She carefully, silently slipped out of his embrace and climbed out of bed. Hunger must have driven him to hibernation, because he barely stirred.

_My poor dear, I am eternally sorry for failing you like this_, she thought, savoring the sight of him before going. _If only I had been able to take one of the accursed fifth clan, you might have been satisfied for months. I could have remained at home, with you, and my sisters. On my honor, you won't go hungry again._

It appeared that Gamma and Theta were also still asleep; but Delta had woken to wait for her. Again, the veiled Prophet was waiting near the entrance with a sad, solemn look on her face. She also had a long cloak draped over her arm, and a supply pack waiting at her feet. Pi couldn't help but be touched.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you wished to take my place on this journey," she commented with an amused smirk. "Trying to follow in mine and Mu's exalted footsteps, are we?"

Delta shook her head without looking up. "No."

Seeing that her sister was upset for some reason, Pi placed her hand on Delta's shoulder. "In any case, thank you for this. It will help me greatly on my search."

Delta squinched her eyes shut, as if she were in pain, or about to do something painful. She let go a sigh and informed, "The fourth clan is nearby. There's six of them, not counting the babies, just like you left them from last time."

"Really? How far away?"

"They're camped a few miles from here, in an abandoned car. It's blue, and missing a rear tire. The license plate it on the sidewalk next to it, and reads 329-ADJ… I think… It's hard to see numbers clearly, since you found the fifth clan."

At the mere mention of their name, Pi snorted petulantly. She picked the pack up from the floor, and let her sister help fasten the cloak around her shoulders. The two walked out into the snow together, and Pi hoisted the pack on her back, pulling the hood of the cloak over her frizzy hair.

"Thank you, Delta," she said with a sisterly smile, giving the girl's hand an affectionate squeeze. "Thank you for everything."

Delta bobbled her head back and forth. Then suddenly, her eyes grew huge and her black pupils shrunk until they nearly disappeared. Her breathing grew shallow and raspy, and in a fit, she tore her veil away from her face. She fell to the ground and began scribbling frantically in the fresh snow, muttering in the ancient language of their spells, except she wasn't chanting any spell that Pi had ever heard. She fell beside her sister, trying to soothe the vision that had overtaken her. But all she could do was wait patiently for the fit to pass.

And it didn't last long. Less than a minute had passed when Delta's pupils dilated to a normal size, and she sat back in Pi's arms, taking in shaking gulps of air. It was a rare and wonderful moment, for Pi—her sister had uncovered her face, sharing a vision with her, and was even letting someone hug her. Such moments usually meant something traumatic had just happened, but Pi was too moved to care right away. For now, it was nice to be able to hug her sister goodbye. She couldn't be bothered to look at anything but Delta's adorable face. Who knew when she would see it again?

The younger girl looked up at Pi with desperation in her eyes, and gripped her shoulders urgently. She tried to speak, but only managed to stammer a little.

"F-f-f… F-f-f-f… F-f-f…"

"Come on, Delta, tell me what's wrong. Tell me."

She pointed into the snow and finally croaked out a single word that made Pi's heart stop.

"F-F-Five."

Pi looked over her shoulder and saw with a start what her sister had scribbled. It was the number 5, over and over and over again. She held Delta closer, as if she could guard the girl from the gravitas of her own vision. And Delta clung to her, disturbed by what she had seen.

"What does it mean?" she whispered.

Pi scowled furiously at the digits in the snow, and stood up, pulling Delta along with her. She held the girl steady until she could stand on her own, and then slowly, carefully released her. Delta gave her a baleful look, and her lip quivered.

"Pi… What does it mean? What does that number mean to you?"

Once again, Pi snorted at the very idea of the idiot she had been glad to leave behind.

"It doesn't mean anything to me," she answered finally. She shifted the pack on her back, and began the long walk through the snow.

"I'll be home in a day or two. Look after Gamma and Theta for me, and behave for Alpha, do you understand me?"

She didn't look back to see Delta nod in response; she just assumed that her fairly obedient sister would. But in fact, the terrified little girl stood frozen in place, sniffling pathetically as she watched Pi vanish into the snow.

_The fourth clan,_ she thought. _Brothers of the fifth clan, or so I've been told; I never would have guessed, if someone else hadn't said something first. Vain, selfish, arrogant—every single one of them-nothing like 9 and his family. They're the easiest to take from, and Alpha's enjoyed their taste in the past because of it. They never fill him for long, but I think he'll be pleased to see a distinctly herb-flavored sacrifice stumble in from the cold. _

_And to think. The fifth clan doesn't even know the exist. At least, that's what they've said. But I don't know about that, entirely. The Bearer, and the elder… They knew something. Hm… _


	16. Watching

I blame 5 for why this chapter took so long. I also blame the Art Institute for ending my break, and Timothy Beeler for not allowing us to use electronic devices in class. The scoundrel… :/

The original idea for this chapter has been split in two. Partially, because I've been struggling with it, and I'm getting sick of looking at this first part of it. But, more importantly—if I split it, I can leave the next chapter on a delicious cliffhanger. 8D

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_Watching_

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9 had to admit, he was impressed with the base on the second floor. It had been designed and built for warriors, by a warrior. He had never guessed that 8 would take the initiative to put something so useful and elaborate together. He had expected the giant to plunk himself down before a reasonable vantage point, and sit and wait patiently—at rest, it was what he did best.

But no. When asked about it, 8 shrugged and stated that he didn't want to keep watch for a witch and her ilk with no shelter, no weapons, and no way to call for help. He said that sounded foolish, so he built himself a fortress. It seemed like the smart thing to do. 9 had to mentally kick himself for underestimating his brother like that. They were all still surprising him in small ways like this. Almost nothing he knew of them before was the same now. And for the most part, that was a good thing.

And, apparently, 8 still had plans for the fortress. He had made plans in his head for a tower, for a higher, better view. He also wanted to add on a whole room for an armory—because the tangle of projectiles on the floor wasn't good enough for him. It was heartwarming to see him working on a project of his own. It was equally heartwarming that he was so proud of his work, he had personally invited his brother to survey it.

For a bit, 9 just let his brother tour him around the fortress, listened to him babble on about its details, its ingenuity, and the way he saw it in the weeks to come.

"I hope my sister likes it," the giant commented in his bumbling voice. "I made sure there were plenty of spears up here, just for her. Oh, and look at this."

He took 9 by the wrist and pulled him over to the window frame. All the glass had been blown out long ago, letting a strong, cold wind blast freely over the floor. The view was perfect, and amazingly clear; even from the height, buried under snow, 9 could still make out small details on the statues in the courtyard. Beside him, 8 took in a deep, full breath of the cold air, filling his lungs as much as he could, and slowly releasing it in a puff of mist.

"The wind is so strong right here. It feels like we're flying. 7 will like that. She'll like it a lot."

Feeling a little overwhelmed by pride, 9 leaned back against the window frame and took a moment to admire his largest brother. In the end, 8 had turned out to have one of the bigger, softer hearts of the whole clan. That was wonderful.

"What are you looking at?" the giant asked after a moment.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking," 9 answered with a smile.

"You do that a lot."

"Yeah, I suppose I do…" He also got the feeling that they were being watched, and he could guess by whom.

"Who's on watch after you tonight?"

8 looked off into space for a second, remembering. "5, I think. He'll come up soon. But I don't really want to see him. He's been scary lately."

That was the oddest remark; 9 wasn't sure if it made him want to laugh or cry. 5? _Scary_? It was ridiculous. That fact that it was true made it all the more so. He wasn't looking forward to it… But he needed to speak with his brother again. Whatever had gotten into him since Pi had been sent away, it had to stop. Now. He sighed heavily, thinking about everything.

"I'll take watch after him tonight, then," he decided.

"6 wants to watch this time. Four shifts is better. We can all get some sleep. A long time ago, I hated doing all the watching by myself. We don't have to be like that again."

"I don't see any reason why he shouldn't take a shift, if he wants to," 9 agreed, reaching up and patting his brother on the shoulder. "you've done a really great job with this fort, 8. Thank you."

The giant grinned down at him, extremely proud. A sudden noise distracted them—but when they looked up, they didn't see anything. 8 seemed bothered by this—his genius fortress being infiltrated by one of their own. But 9 rolled his eyes, unimpressed.

_Who does 5 think he's fooling? I love the man to death, but he is the _least_ subtle person I know, and he couldn't hide himself to save his life. You certainly can't hide from me, brother._

Darting his eyes around a little, looking for the source of the noise, 8 headed back toward the elevator.

"I'm going down. Are you coming?" he asked over his shoulder.

"No, I'll stay up here for a bit. I'll see you downstairs, 8."

8 shrugged in response and went on his way. As he listened to the elevator inch down toward the ground floor, 9 went on admiring the courtyard, wondering what he might say to coax his brother out of the shadows. It wasn't like he had anywhere to run to now that the elevator was so far below them. They were rather trapped together now, with the topic of 5's unusual behavior hanging in the air. He felt as trapped as he was sure his brother did.

_I am _not_ looking forward to this…_

"You know something, 5? I've always liked the rain."

He paused for a moment, let his brother realize exactly how he couldn't fool _anyone_, before continuing, "Ask me why. Go on, come out here and ask me why."

5 took his time inching out from behind the fortress and into the open; 9 heard and felt it rather than saw it, because he couldn't bring himself to look at his brother yet. Now that they were alone for the first time in days, he realized that his own frustration and anger were much greater than he had thought.

"…Why do you like the rain?" 5 finally, petulantly asked.

"Because it was the only time I could come home," he snapped, finally turning to face his brother. "I could wander around out there for weeks, all by myself, before it rained hard enough to come home. I was out there looking for _you_, and I had to leave my family behind to do it. Do you know how hard that was? Do you understand at all how much I sacrificed to get you back?"

5 was finally startled out of his petulance, and looked frightened—maybe even a little apologetic, understanding where this was going. He had nothing to say for himself. But 9 still had plenty to say, and advanced to his paralyzed brother's side.

"We were supposed to be a family again. We were supposed to be healing. But you… 5, you've been sick. Something's been hurting you for months, and you won't let us help you. Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"I'm certainly not under a spell, if that's what you're thinking."

"This has nothing to do with Pi," he exclaimed, grabbing 5 by the shoulders and shaking him hard. "This isn't about her, or me, or anyone else—it's about _you_. I'm tired of seeing you like this, and I'm not going to sit by and allow it anymore! Just tell me what's going on. Let me help you."

5 shook his head, refusing to meet his brother's gaze. "It's nothing."

"Yes, it is. 5… It's me, isn't it?"

He looked up, startled and perhaps a little terrified.

"Just _say_ it—it's me you're mad at. Just tell me what I did to you, so I can fix it. Please. I'm trying to help you. Brother…"

5 sighed heavily and walked off to the window, staring absently down into the snow. He looked exhausted and lost as he leaned heavily against the window frame, sighing sadly.

"I just… For that whole long, terrifying day, I watched you do something amazing to my sister. She changed so much, so suddenly, just because you loved her like that; and she was falling in love with you, as well. It was wonderful to watch, and I was so excited for you. And when I died, I was sad that I would never see what would become of it. And then I came back, and I saw how far you had come, and… I wanted that, too. I wanted to know what that was like. And knowing that it was completely impossible…

"It made me so _angry_," he confessed, sounding close to tears. "You have no idea how angry I was. And I knew that it wasn't right to be so angry at you, just because you were so happy. I hated being that way, but I couldn't help it. And then 7 got pregnant, and it was like—just another wonderful thing that I would never know for myself. I'll never have a wife, or children like you do. And that hurts, 9. It hurts a lot."

9 supposed he could understand why his brother would be so jealous. And he had to admit, knowing the joy he found in his family, that he would have felt the same, had their roles been reversed. He hurt for and with him, knowing that such a big heart with so much love in it was being wasted like this; he felt his own heart breaking a little. 5 slowly turned to look at him, but couldn't look him in the eye.

"I haven't liked being so angry at you, 9. That's hurt, too. And I know how much it's hurt everyone else. I'm sorry."

"5… Why didn't you just tell me?"

"What was I supposed to say?" He absently ran his hand over the wooden window frame. "I had hoped if I could ignore it, focus on the virtues of our new life, on all the possibilities we have now, maybe I could be content again. The idea of a love that big used to terrify me; even watching the two of you was almost too big for me. But it never went away. I'll never be content with that again."

"Pi didn't help much with that."

5 looked down at the floor and shook his head. "I thought it was a miracle. In what felt like the depth of my despair, she appeared out of nowhere and… She was _so_ beautiful. You fell in love with my sister the second you saw her; and I thought, this must be what it's like. This must be what it's like…

"She never loved me, though."

"She was a monster," 9 agreed right away. "We saved her life, and she thanked us by lying to us, and hurting us—maybe even trying to kill us.

"9… I still love her."

"…What?"

"I know what she is, and I know what she did—even I can't rationalize that. I should be angry at her, not at you. I should hate her as much as the rest of you do. But I just can't. There's still love for her in my heart, and I simply can't explain why. It's confusing and frustrating, and…"

"Painful."

"Yes. Painful." With another sigh, 5 turned and stared back into the snow-covered city.

"Maybe it's just as well. Who could ever love a loser like me, anyway? 2 was right—I don't deserve to have a family."

"Stop that," 9 insisted, putting his arm around his brother's shoulders. "That wasn't what he meant."

"Something doesn't sit right with me. Pi turned out to be very different from what she seemed all along. But I think she might have been even more than that."

"I don't understand."

"I can't be as simple as that. There's something else going on. I can feel it. What if I could still help her?"

"She's someone else's problem now. You don't' need to worry about her anymore. You just need some time, and you need us. We're your family; we're here to help you, if you'd just let us. I know it's not exactly enough anymore, but… can't you try?"

5 looked up and offered him a weak smile. "Of course I can. Thank you for listening. I know you don't understand, but—"

"Maybe I do, a little bit. Love makes people do strange things, sometimes. It's unfair how badly its hurt you; but I'm glad you got a taste of what it's like."

"Yeah… I am, too. Will you stay up here with me for a while?"

"Of course I will. I'm your brother, aren't I?"

Well. That hadn't been as painful as he had expected. Now they could mend the ragged ends of their friendship. Now they could be a family again.

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The twins watched in relative silence as the weeks went by, and soon it was March. The snow was melting away, leaving patches of green springtime in its wake. And they surprised themselves by having changed as much as the rest of their Stitchpunk family. Once upon a time, they would never have dreamed of leaving the shelter of their home; outside, it had been dark, desolate and frightening, full of danger they couldn't protect themselves from, and largely irrelevant to their true purpose. But when that same danger had forced them out of that shelter and into the world, they discovered something amazing about the world.

They needed it—in all its dark, desolate dangerousness—if they were _really_ to live up to their purpose. Cataloging the world, in order to organize it, in order to understanding it. That was what they had been made for. Surrounding themselves with mountains of books, pouring through them all, memorizing everything they said about the world beyond was good and well. But amid the terror and trauma and death that they had found, they also saw life, and hope, and promise. And reality, in all its glory. They could study, read and catalog every book that had ever been written; but they would never truly understand the world until they went out into it. Until they experienced it.

And experiencing it had been wonderful, if not at times difficult. A year of mixed up, confused weather had followed the first rain, as the world tried desperately to right itself. The fact that this winter had been a suitably snowy one was promising. The world really was healing itself, gaining its bearings, remembering its seasons and where they were supposed to be. This year, 3 and 4 would experience something else they had never known before:

Springtime.

And their baby sister would experience it, as well. She would never have to know what the world had been like before her father had awoken. They could all learn the joys and pains of the naturally changing seasons together, as brother and sisters. Being much older, the two of them intended to study the heck out of their new surroundings; being a baby, 10 would probably just be enchanted by the soft green grass, the bright colors of flowers, the gentle rush of the breeze, the warmth of the sun…

10 hadn't been outside the library yet. It was too cold and snowy for a little baby to be outside. All she had ever known was the looming shadows and perpetual darkness of cavernous library. She had never seen the sun. That was an exciting thought, though; 3 and 4 had barely seen the sun in months, themselves. They couldn't wait for their sister to experience the world for the first time. If she was anything like their dad, she would soak up every ounce of it and revel in it—even if she was only a few months old.

As the weeks marched on and the weather began to grow warmer, the twins were secretly working on plans for something very special. And now that the snow was melting, revealing the useful findings that had been impossible to reach, surely their project would come together in a… "jiffy", was the human term they liked best to use. It sounded more fun. It was the middle of March when they finally took a step back from their plans to survey their very careful work. Each twin critically scanned his or her set of blueprints, searching for any error or flaw, before they turned to face each other with a nod of approval.

_"Finished."_ They chorused.

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It was so nice for everything to be back to normal—the way it was supposed to be. Surrounded by her brothers, with the witch banished from memory and the snow melting away outside, 7 felt like she could finally raise her daughter in peace. Ah, peace. The very idea made her feminine heart soar like an eagle. She had never felt so… _free_ before.

10 didn't seem to have a problem with that. The child had never known a cage— unless her parent's safe, secure embrace counted as such, and 7 didn't think that it did. It was only a few weeks into March—about three months since she had been born—and one day, quite suddenly, she stunned everybody by joyously squealing her first word. It had been evening, and they were all gathered in the common room. Then 9 had walked in, returning from his watch, and the baby's little eyes went wide.

"Adadadada!" she cried, reaching for her father. Her sudden ability to speak (sort of) didn't seem to concern her as much as it did everyone else. It wasn't important or monumental to her at all. All that mattered was that her daddy was home.

She was only a baby, still; but she was already growing up so fast. And she was completely free to do so, as fast as she wanted. 7 was so proud of her. But at the same time, the idea that she could blink, or turn her head for a second, and look up to see her baby had grown up all of a sudden… She thought she would cry; but she couldn't decide from what emotion.

Another night, not too long thereafter, it was the twin's turn to surprise everyone. After disappearing for the entire day, they walked into the common room, each carrying a rolled up piece of parchment in their hands. Sort of ignoring everyone else, 3 scanned the room until he spotted 2, working with some findings in the middle of the floor, and marched right up to him with a very serious expression. Being a rather goofy child most of the time, it was difficult to take that seriousness seriously. It was adorable, but at the same time… What could be up with them?

_"2,"_ the boy announced matter-of-factly, _"my sister and I have made a very important decision, and we need your help."_

Behind him, clutching her rolled up parchment nervously, 4 nodded her head earnestly.

"Is that the truth?" 2 answered evenly, setting his work to the side. "Well, you have my full attention, then. What decision might that be?"

3 handed over his rolled up parchment, struggling to hide his obvious excitement behind that uncharacteristic seriousness. 2 unrolled it and looked it over for a moment, and his eyes widened in surprise. He looked up at them in wonder, unable to speak for a moment.

"…After all this time?"

_"we've been this way for far too long. We thought we'd be this way forever; and we were fine with that, once. But now…"_

4 stepped up and finished for her twin, _"We're finally ready to grow up."_

The rest of the gathered clan sat and listened to their conversation in silence, piecing together what was going on. And while 7 marveled at her adopted children, she had to wonder at them. Had they spent all this time designing new bodies for themselves? Why hadn't they told anyone, or asked for any help? 9 hopped up from his place beside her and walked over to look at 4's paper. After looking it over carefully, he looked back at them.

"This is a very big choice you've made," he agreed. "Are you sure you want to do this? It's not a choice to be made lightly, you know."

_"But we haven't made it lightly,"_ 4 insisted. _"we've thought and thought and thought about it for weeks. And we've worked really hard on these designs."_

"Yes, I can see that…"

2 rose to join them and added, "If we go through with this—build these new bodies and transfer your souls into them—you can never go back to the way you were before."

_"That's the beauty of it. we've been like this for almost seven years, now. And it's just… It's just time, now. I think we've outgrown these bodies,"_ 3 explained. _"I know that sounds funny, since we don't grow and all, but it's the only way I can explain it. We can't stay this way forever, you know."_

_"Dixie's going to grow up,"_ 4 put in helpfully. _"We need to set a good example for her. It's not a scary or terrible thing to grow up. But she'll decide in her own time when she's ready to do it, just like we have."_

Indeed, they put up a good argument. Still looking unsure, 9 brought 4's blueprint bck to the sofa for 7 to look at.

"What do you think of this?" he asked.

7 looked the drawing over as critically as she could while her husband held it steady. It was a remarkable design, sketched in attentive detail, with specific important notes made in the margins. It was 4, basically, though her new body was designed to be about an inch taller and more femininely defined. It was a body in its mid-teens, she supposed.

"Their work seems… Sound," she said with a shrug. "I don't see any problem with this. _Is_ there a problem with this?"

"No, no, not at all. It's just… Strange, and wonderful."

"So this is doable? You can build their new bodies and—"

"Oh yes, absolutely! It will be no different from when we built Dixie, just on a bigger scale. And I suppose I could use the practice—she'll be ready for a new body soon, herself," 9 explained with a smile. "In fact, if the twins would be willing to help us, I think we can be done by their birthday, in May."

'Well, how perfect is that? What do you say to that, kids? Would you help them?"

As if she needed to ask. The twins beamed, and 4 clapped her hands delightedly.

_"Of course! That would be wonderful!"_ she cheered.

_"When can we start? Can we start in the morning? We have all the other blueprints drawn up, and lists of materials, and everything."_

"I don't see why not," 2 agreed, giving them both a hug. "All my other projects can wait for a bit, then. I had always wondered if this day would ever come; and now that it has, I'm not sure what to say. I'm very proud of you both. This is a very big decision to make, and one that I never got to make for myself. I'm sure that it took a lot of courage."

_"It did, a little,"_ 3 admitted. _"There are some things I think we'll miss, I guess."_

_"But this is going to be better. Much better. Just wait and see."_


	17. Waiting

6,000 words? I thought _that_ was a record? Forget 6K—7K is where it's at! Actually, closer now to 8,000 than 7,000. I'm not entirely sure how it happened; I thought aiming for a typical 8 page, 4-5K update was a reasonable expectation at this point. But this got… HUGE. Outrageously huge.

And personally, I blame 3 for being insightful, and 6 for being adorable. I've found that between 3's intelligent observations, and 6's innocent observations, they both have a tendency to ramble. A lot.

Since I am ridiculously busy these days and have no idea when I'll be updating again, I think it's better for you guys to have a longer, more interesting chapter to tide you over until I can get back to you. Luckily, the next installment FINALLY has a definite direction—the next three or four of them have been a blur of possibilities. But after months of mulling, it's actually coming together. :D

Also, Dixie is a genius. Maybe even an _evil_ genius. Or maybe just a contrary genius. It's hard to tell.

_Also_, also, PI IS BAAAAAACK! 8D

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_Waiting_

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As her parents carried her out of the library for the first time, Dixie gave a shrill cry of alarm at the bright, blinding thing glaring into her young eyes. Everything was suddenly so bright—so bright that it stung her eyes and warmed her skin. Like the fire that tantalized her so as it danced on the tip of a match, only a thousand-fold. Along with all the sensations that it came with, it was overwhelming and frightening.

Was that thing the same thing that her family called The Sun? She squirmed in her father's arms, burying her face in his shoulder in a futile attempt to hide. She wished he would take her back inside the cool, dark library, where the blinding, burning sun couldn't find her. But alas, he didn't seem to understand why she was crying so, and only carried her farther out into the world.

"Oh, precious girl, don't cry," 9 insisted, trying to soothe her by gently rubbing her back. "It's just the sun. It's a part of our world. It's wonderful."

"Don't rush her, dearest," 7 advised beside him. "Four months old, and she's never seen the light of day. It must be a lot for a baby. Give her eyes a few minutes to adjust, at least."

9 supposed this was all true. He was so used to the sun, and the constant brightness of the outside world. He hadn't considered for a second that his child might find it overwhelming. But yes, when she finally grew accustomed to it, he was certain she would take right to the world outside their home. She was already too much like both her parents to be any other way.

April was only a week or so away now, and the last of the snow had melted away the previous day. Grass and young flowers had taken over the courtyard, which was as far as they intended to take Dixie today. It was a safe and familiar area. And it had been transformed so suddenly by the robe of springtime that they hardly recognized it. It was like walking into an enchanted, magical world, where any number of amazing things could pop out and surprise them.

They sat down in a patch of soft, dry grass at the base of a statue. One of its delicate, perfectly carved hands had fallen to the ground long ago, already partially consumed by moss. Its cupped palm faced heavenward, creating a sort of bench, and a conveniently perfect spot to lay a baby down. As they sat together, talking and playing, 9 got the pleasant impression that this had just become _their_ spot. He supposed they would come here together for many years to come. Maybe when Dixie was old enough to run around, he would build her a playground here.

But for now, he liked her just the way she was. Instead of peek-a-boo, he decided to play word games with her; considering her vocabulary had increased to five whole words in a week, he felt like word games were appropriate. She could now say dada, no, yes, mama, and book—in that order. For some reason, though, she refused to address her mother directly, even though she knew how. They were attempting fix that in the form of a game; but the clever little girl didn't seem to be buying it.

"Look at this guy," 7 said, pointing to her husband. "Who's that?"

"Adada!" Dixie cried right away.

"That's right, baby. What about me?" She pointed to herself. "Who's this?"

"No," the baby chirped instead, deviously stuffing her fist into her mouth, as if to say, "Oh look, my mouth is full. Guess I can't say anything now. It's rude to talk with your mouth full, you know."

7 was visibly unimpressed with this; but Dixie appeared to be enjoying herself. Trying not to chuckle too hard, 9 took his turn and pointed to himself.

"Who's this, Dixie?"

"Adadada!" she squealed, much more enthusiastic than before.

"Very good, smart girl. Now look," he insisted, pointing to 7. "Who's this?"

"No. No! Adada!

"No, Dixie, this is mommy. Say mommy. _Mommy_."

"No!"

Just as an experiment, he wordlessly pointed back to himself.

"Adadadadada!"

And then back to 7.

"No!"

It felt like a face/palm was in order. As he let his face fall frustratedly into his palm7 took her baby's little hand in her own.

"Oh, I had hoped you hadn't gotten that from me," she lamented. "Come on, Dixie, say mommy. Please say mommy. Please? Just once?"

Dixie cooed vaguely, unsure if they were still playing or not. Even if she didn't understand every word, she certainly seemed to understand the sadness and frustration in her mother's voice.

"You sure love that daddy, don't you? You love me too… Right?"

9 put his arm around her. "Honey, of course she loves you," he insisted, sweetly kissing her cheek. "She's just playing with us. She's already figured out how to beat us at our own game. That's a big thing, for such a little baby."

"I know… I just wish she'd say my name. She can do it—we've all heard it before. But she won't. It makes me kind of sad, you know?"

"Yeah, I do. She'll get it, eventually."

A little while later, he picked Dixie up and sat down in the bench, sitting her down in his lap. He began humming a random, merry little tune, making it up as he went along, clapping the baby's hands together in time. She seemed to enjoy it, and occasionally gave a long, loud squeal that sounded almost like she was singing right along with him. She also smiled and laughed a lot, especially when the tempo either sped up or slowed down. 9 was so happy that she liked music. It had come to be one of his favorite things about being alive, and it had always been one 7's favorite things, as well. He was glad it was so easy to share with their daughter.

7 sat in the grass, listening contentedly to his humming, watching them play. She plucked a few blades of grass and began braiding them tightly together into a long rope; when she reached the end, she tied the ends together into a circle, weaving the loose ends carefully back into the braid. Observing her work, deeming it satisfactory, she set the circle to the side and made another. Then she made a third, much smaller than the first two; she left the ends long, trailing down like ribbons, and grinned with particular pride at her final creation.

Placing the first circle on her own head like a crown, she stood up and placed the second on 9's head.

"It suits you," she said sweetly, kissing the top of his head. She knelt down and placed the last circle on Dixie's head, with the ends trailing behind her back.

"And I made one for you, sweetheart. There, now. You look like a princess."

Dixie cooed in wonder, not sure what was on her head or why it was there, but enchanted by how regal her mother looked. She reached for her with an earnest look in her eyes.

"Amama!"

"Oh feh." 7 scooped up her baby and held her to her chest. "I'm only good for one thing, aren't I?" she teased.

"Amamama—" Dixie cut herself off by latching onto her mother's toggle, and she began to suckle happily.

"It's okay. I don't really mind." 7 planted her free hand on her hip and turned away, surveying the whole courtyard. She took a deep breath of the warm spring air, and released it in a short, decisive sigh.

"9, I believe I shall start a garden out here," she announced.

It sounded almost ridiculous, considering everything he once knew about his wife. He came to stand beside her, to see where she was looking. She didn't seem to have picked a particular spot; but the entire side of the courtyard she was focusing on was full of possibility.

"I'll fill it full of flowers," she continued. "They'll grow tall, like a forest, and Dixie can play in them when she's older. And the twins can study them, and press them to keep in their books. We can learn all about them, and how they grow, and our courtyard will be full of color all year long, and… This doesn't sound like me at all, does it?"

"Curiouser and curiouser," he agreed, slipping his arm around her waist. "But I like it. It's going to be a magnificent garden, my moonbeam."

She smiled and snuggled into him. "My sunshine," she answered, earning a gentle kiss on her forehead. She looked down at her nursing baby, and caressed her soft fingers.

"And our little morning star."

Dixie cooed in response; but her mouth was full, so it was hard to tell what she was trying to say. Thoroughly satisfied, 7 looked back into the courtyard and nodded her head resolutely.

"I'd better get cracking then. It may be a little late for spring flowers, but maybe I can be ready for summer, don't you think?"

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The builders had promised to work on the technical parts, which were somewhat straightforward, but hopelessly daunting for the twins. Instead, they kept their end of the deal by measuring and stitching their new skins. They wouldn't have had it any other way, really. Deciding on their own physical details was a lot more fun to do themselves, without hovering over someone else's shoulder to make sure it was being done right.

For starters, they had chosen their original material to work with. It was the same clean white cotton they had lived in all their lives; and though they were maturing significantly, they felt that it still suited them best. Perhaps it always would, and they didn't mind. But the built in cloaks and hoods had been left behind. A snuggly head-covering to hide inside had been fitting for young, easily frightened children; and costume-like capes they could never remove had been equally fitting. But that time was over, now. Their bodies were shaped just like everyone else's this time.

However, in a spare hour of their time, they fashioned themselves a pair of scholarly robes, in the same dark blue of their hoods. They took their inspiration from a wizard they had seen in a book once; he had seemed very wise and powerful to them, and they supposed they were alike, in that way. A single gray button fastened each one in the middle of the chest, and the hems would reach almost to their toes; the sleeves were wide at the hems. The robes also had hoods, mostly for looks; the twins didn't know how often they would actually wear them from now on. But it was a piece of themselves that they weren't quite ready to let go of yet.

They chose small blue buttons for their new closures. 3 had three of them in a vertical line, over his heart; he particularly liked that, since he couldn't have them on his right side. He was right-handed, and couldn't have buttons getting in his way whenever he tried to use his dominant hand. 4 only had two buttons, in a horizontal line across the top of her chest. 3 wasn't sure at first how to feel about that; he found it immodest, and fretted that his sister should keep her new breasts covered as much as possible. But 4 rolled her eyes at him.

"_They're not breasts, they're buttons,"_ she corrected. _"Anyway, they're just for decoration. Human breasts were only good for feeding babies, and these won't even be able to do __that__."_

"_You should still keep them covered, sis. It's indecent."_

"_Okay, okay, fine. You worry about your body, and let me worry about mine, okay?"_

3 still didn't like it. But he rolled his eyes at his sister and went on with his own work. While he had left his own design fairly plain—pretty much the same as it had been before, but taller—4 notably took every stride to give her new body as much character as possible. It had always been next to impossible to tell right away if they were both boys, or girls, or one and another. Given this chance, 4 wanted no more of that. The way she had cut and sewn her midsection cinched her waist in slightly, for a curvier appearance. Her limbs were more slender and graceful than her brother's.

She had also conceived a brilliant new method of adding hair to her design. She began by selecting a spool of fine brown thread, and a needle with a large eye. Then she traced a hairline with chalk around her new head. Threading three lengths of thread into the needle, she drew them almost all the way through a weave inside the hairline. She ended by tying the ends within the skin together, with the thick knot on the inside. The end result was a thick curtain of nut brown hair, reaching down to her waist. It had taken her days of tedious, patient work, and almost an entire spool of thread. But she was immensely proud and very pleased.

3 wondered vaguely, as his sister's new form took on a very different shape while his remained pretty much the same, if this defeated the purpose of them being twins. But alas, he supposed it was the truth. They intended to spend the ages between 13 and 17 in these bodies. And that meant that meant that his sister would be growing into a woman. He hadn't planned on it in the slightest, before. But now he figured that he should have seen it coming. Human females physically matured earlier and faster than males. And while their own bodies were very inorganic, their souls were still very human. If 7 had gotten a say in how she was shaped, she probably would have designed something very close to what 4 had worked so carefully to craft.

But 7 didn't need that, 3 decided with a smile. 7 was feminine and beautiful all on her own, because _being_ a woman was most of her original purpose. That made her beautiful all on its own. 4 was also female, but their creator had admitted once that this was partially just a happy accident. In the first place, she had been designed as a child; in the second, her purpose was to be a bookish scholar who didn't really care what she looked like.

That last part had sort of failed, because 4 made a point to make everything she did beautiful, including herself, sometimes. 3 didn't care if he was dirty or messy, but he was a little boy. 4 was a girl, and felt inclined to care just by dint of being a girl. In fact, when he didn't care if he looked presentable or not, she took it upon herself to care for him. He didn't always appreciate her fussing, but he guessed that someone had to do it. He also guessed that that was just how girls are, in general, and he also guessed that ultimately, he didn't mind it.

_I wonder what Pi would think of her new body? She was, like, almost an adult, and her body was no more girlish than anyone else's. Did it ever cross __anyone's__ mind that our women might want to look like women? 'Cause the ones I've seen don't. That's kind of weird…_

3 had already made his new body taller; but he couldn't think of any drastic changes he could make. In the end, he looked like a slightly smaller version of all the other men in his family—straight-lined and kind of lanky, the only obvious, unique decoration being his closure. That was a fair standard, he supposed, and he had more than met it. But 4 had taken the opportunity to think and work harder, and she had definitely raised the bar. He was very proud of her accomplishment, though he wished he had had the same opportunity.

Maybe in a few years, when they reached full maturity and made adult bodies for themselves, he would find a little more opportunity.

They diligently worked on their project all through April; and other than leaking one or two details to their family, the finished result remained a surprise. Soon it was May. Gemini had risen, and their birthday was drawing nearer. And finally, all the pieces were finished and ready to be joined. Because they had to help with the last stages, 9 and 2 were the first to see their new bodies. And they were very impressed.

"You've clearly put a lot of heart into this," 2 commented as he looked over their skins. "We had been worried at first that you might still have second thoughts, you know. I'm glad this wasn't the case. You're growing up to be fine young people, and we're very proud of that."

They were pretty proud of themselves, as well. Even though there wasn't much they could do to help, they watched as their dad and grandfather attached the two sets of framework and wiring to their new skins. Their bodies looked ready to accommodate souls, now.

"_Dad, what's that box in our wiring?"_ 3 asked.

"Oh yeah," 9 said slowly. "I know you asked us not to… But we've included voice boxes in your works anyway."

"_Dad…"_

"Hey, it could work. You never know."

"_What if it doesn't?"_

"Isn't it worth a little risk? And if it doesn't work out, we can always remove them. It's easy enough, and it won't hurt."

4 tugged earnestly on her dubious twin's arm. _"He's right, 3. It could work. Can't we just give it a try?"_

"…_I guess so. The worst that could happen is that nothing happens. I kind of like those odds,"_ 3 finally agreed, daring to be a little optimistic.

They also noted some new things about their engineered pieces. They now had metal toes like everyone else, a feature they had particularly looked forward to. 3's eye casings were brassy, and 4's were silvery. Though her hands were obviously smaller, her silver fingers were longer and more graceful—good fingers for writing left-handed cursive like she did. 3's hands were larger, of course, strong, sturdy and manly. And he noticed at once that the middle finger on his right hand was nearly the length of his index finger. For some reason, it had always been disproportionate and given him a hard time writing; but no more.

They had thought of everything. It was the best birthday present they could have asked for.

On the evening of May 25, the night sky was perfectly crystal clear. 9 and 2 led the twins to the middle of the courtyard, to a special place they had prepared for the ritual. They two children looked up, marveling at the beauty of the stars. There were so many, it was a little difficult to find box-shaped Gemini among them. But when they finally did find it… Wow. It was so clear, and so many stars were visible, it was like there were enough to give each heavenly twin a face.

"_I'm glad this is the last thing we'll see with these eyes,"_ 4 commented quietly.

"_And the first ting we'll see with our new ones,"_ 3 added with a smile.

A small bonfire had been lit in the middle of the courtyard, illuminating a large part of it. Their new bodies had already been brought out, resting on the opposite side of the fire, facing the east. When they came to the edge of the fire, they all stopped and paused for a long, solemn minute. What was about to happen… It was so big. 9 took a deep breath and looked down at his adopted children.

"Lie down," he instructed.

The twins did as they were told, lying down on their backs, facing the sparkling heavens. They also realized they were pointing toward the west, and that it could not be a coincidence. 9 knelt beside his son, a slightly nervous but fatherly smile on his face, and patted the boy on the head.

"Well, this is it, kids. Are you feeling okay?"

3 nodded vigorously. _"Excited,"_ he answered right away.

"Good. Very good. So, 3, you'll be first, since you're older. It won't take very long, but I want you to close your eyes for this, okay? And 4, I want you to do the same."

"_But why?"_ the girl asked.

"I don't want either of you to see this."

Holding the talisman closer to his chest, 2 joined them on the ground and continued to explain the impending procedure, in his kindly, doctoral way.

"Now then, the transfer will take less than a minute for each of you. 3, you will wake before your sister, of course, so you must try your very best to remain calm. I'm not sure exactly how you will feel; but rest assured, my boy, there isn't a thing to worry about. Your dear old dad and I have taken care of everything else."

"_2, will it… Hurt?"_ he asked.

"Oh, like this? Hm… I'm afraid I don't know."

3 couldn't help squirming a little. 4 reached over and took his hand, easing his unease at once. 2 put his hand down on her shoulder and gave her gentle squeeze, calling her undivided attention.

"Regrettably, you will feel it when your brother leaves this vessel. And when that happens, you mustn't panic; you must remain as calm as you can. I agree with your father, that you should keep your eyes closed for this; it's nothing you need to be looking at. The first transfer will be completed quickly, and then it will be your turn. Do you want me to warn you when I begin, or would you rather not expect it?"

4 gulped hard, not sure which would prove the better failsafe. _"Um… If it's going to be that quick, maybe it's better if you don't say anything,"_ she finally decided.

"Very well, my dear. That is very brave of you, you know."

"_Growing up."_

"Indeed you are." He rose to his feet and stood solidly above them, pressing the first two buttons of the sequence. He paused before pressing the finally button.

"Are you ready, 3?"

3 squinched his eyes shut, but couldn't keep from grinning.

"_Yeah. Ready."_

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6 was nervous. He couldn't help it. The talisman was theirs, the way it was supposed to be, precisely for things like what was happening tonight. They could grow and age, have children and raise families, thanks to that enigmatic blob of copper. But given everything else that it was capable of… 9 and 2 knew what they were doing, and they had everything under control, and they would never _try_ to hurt the twins, but still. So many things could go wrong…

At least there hadn't been any visions, and the Voice that brought them had been silent all evening. Surely, if something had been doomed to go wrong, he would have foreseen it. Everything must be going according to plan. It _must_ be.

The twins had carefully guarded their work. He hadn't seen what their new bodies looked like yet. He wondered how much taller they would be when they came back. He wondered if they had blatantly changed the color of their skin, just for the heck of it. He wondered if they would look like the 3 and 4 he had always known, or if he would recognize them at all.

But he was more than certain that, in any case, that 3 would be very handsome, and 4 would be very beautiful. She was already very beautiful, without a doubt the loveliest thing he had ever seen. He couldn't wait to see her new self.

As the rest of them waited in the common room, gathered for the return of their four missing, 6 sat alone before the fireplace. He sat with his legs crossed, his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands, gazing in silence into the dancing flames. He wondered if they might impart a vision to let him know what was going on outside. Something to show him that his anxiety was in vain, and that there was no need to worry.

As if sensing his distress, and that the fire wasn't going to be very insightful in this instance, 7 had come to sit by him. She was so graceful, and he was so lost in thought, he didn't realize she had come until she had sat down. He jumped a bit to find another presence so suddenly within his personal space; but seeing it was just his big sister, with a sweet, kind smile on her lovely face, he relaxed.

She put her arm around him and pulled him close to her. "Are you excited?" she asked. She sounded like she was pretty excited, herself. But 6 shook his head vaguely.

"Nervous," he answered, barely louder than a whisper. "What if something bad happens?"

"Have you seen something?"

"No. I don't know what's going to happen. I'm scared."

"Don't be scared; they all know what they're doing," 7 insisted gently. She gave him a reassuring squeeze and kissed the top of his head. "Would you like to sit in my lap until they come back?"

"No, no, I'll just fall asleep," he answered. He would have loved to climb into the safe, snuggly sister-chair; but it was one of the few things that calmed his raging mind so quickly and easily. A chance to sleep that deeply and peacefully was so rare; he could never help but take it.

In fact, just having her so close, holding him so safe was enough to still his fears. And he felt so relaxed, he thought he might fall asleep just leaning against her. To stay awake, he craned his neck around to see where the others were. The common room seemed so empty, but only because it was so quiet. 8 was quiet, of course, sitting in his usual place against the wall, not really concerned that anything could go wrong. 5 was sitting in the middle of the room, building a lantern for the base upstairs; the winds had changed directions with the spring, so now their fires didn't constantly blow out. Now that it wasn't a futile and pointless waste of energy, their one-eyed brother was eager to have the base full of light.

But 6 had to stop himself from bursting out laughing when he saw 1, pacing back and forth with the swaddled bundle that was Dixie. He hadn't imagined that 7 could ever trust their former leader with anything ever again; and now she was letting him rock her only child to sleep. Well, maybe the sleep-part wasn't working out; instead of settling down, it sounded like the baby was trying very hard to carry on a conversation, and couldn't understand why 1 didn't understand her. Likewise, 1 seemed baffled that Dixie didn't understand what he was saying.

"No, child, you must close your eyes and go to sleep," he was quietly insisting. But Dixie only squealed, cooed and chirped louder in response. 1 made an annoyed face and shook his head… But there was a shade of not-minding-ness in his face.

"Why do you only do this to me? You go to sleep for everyone else. But for me, you stay awake and play games. Contrary, subversive, talkative—confound it, why are you so much like your mother and father? As if they made you for the sole purpose of aggravating me. Because the two of them weren't enough… No, no, don't you make that face at me, young lady… Don't you make that face at me…"

But after another second of her babyish squealing, he sighed and hung his head in defeat. He offered her his fingers to chew on, which she gladly stuffed into her mouth. Her one-sided conversation ended, and he sighed in relief.

"Oh, how can I say no to those eyes? They just _had_ to give you big, intelligent eyes, just like your mother's… Well, I suppose we both win this time, don't we?"

Dixie answered with a wide yawn, but by no means did she let go of his fingers. Once again, he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed enchanted. It was sort of heartwarming.

6 knew that his sister's heart was also thoroughly warmed through. She allowed herself the quietest laugh she could manage, and turned back to her little brother with a big, proud smile.

"I can't believe sometimes, how much I can love something so small," she sighed, stroking his thick, messy hair. "I hope one day, you get to know what this is like."

6 felt a little star struck, that his big sister could have so much faith in him. He had never imagined himself as a parent, or even being in a reasonable position to have children. He wasn't even entirely sure how children were made in the first place. And anyway, who would be the mother of these imaginary children?

A thought came to him, that there was always 4—the one he adored. But how…?

As if on cue, a stranger burst into the room and skidded to a halt, commanding everyone's attention. He didn't remain a stranger for long, though—he was taller and lankier than 3 had been, but he was dressed in a long blue robe with the hood pulled up, partially obscuring his face. He threw the hood back, revealing a face of clean white cotton, and greeted them all with a huge, proud grin.

"_Tada!"_ flashed his brass-rimmed eyes. _"What do you think?"_

Everyone gasped in wonder. It really was 3! The transfer had gone according to plan—like they all knew it would. 7 jumped right up and dashed over to her son.

"Oh, look at you!" she cried, giving him an enormous hug. "Don't we look handsome and such?"

"_I know, right? I like it, too,"_ 3 agreed. _"It feels so comfortable. I hadn't realized until just now, but that little body had gotten really cramped."_ He circled his shoulders and flexed his arms for emphasis as he continued, _"I feel like I can really move around now, you know?"_

7 made an odd face and ran her thumb across his cheek. "You're flickering, still," she commented sort of sadly. "I had hoped…"

"_Aw, mom, they told you about the voice boxes?"_ he whined.

"It was my idea," she informed him. She sighed, disappointed, but gave him a motherly smile and another hug. "Oh well. Happy birthday, son."

"_Thanks, mom."_

Boy, did he look terrific. He was almost as tall as 7, now; one more upgrade, and he would be as tall as everyone else, give or take a millimeter or two. He looked alarmingly normal without his hood on, and 6 got the impression that his friend wouldn't be wearing it as much as he used to. Instead, he looked awfully sharp and mature in his scholarly robe.

But _where_ was 4? If 3 looked this great, surely his sister would return as something too painfully beautiful to look at for long. 6 hoped she would burst into the room as dramatically as her brother had… But 9 came in next, followed by 2.

He had never been so disappointed to see them…

"So, I see you've found the man of the hour," 9 commented with an amused smile. "Impressive, isn't it?"

"You mean to tell me," 1 answered slowly, "that he has done this all himself?"

"Only what you can see," 2 answered helpfully. "Everything within was our work. And we did a bang-up job of it, didn't we," he added, giving 9 a playful punch to the arm.

"Yeah, I suppose we did," the younger man agreed, sheepishly rubbing his arm.

"Huh. Astounding," 1 mumbled thoughtfully. "I hadn't realized the children were so handy with a needle. I shall have to watch out for them."

To that, everyone had to laugh a little; the idea of the twins being dangerous was too ridiculous. But 1 looked around incredulously at them all, not pleased in the slightest.

"It wasn't meant to be humorous," he fumed. He might have stomped his foot and shaken his fist at them, except he was still holding the baby and would have upset her.

"Hey, 9," 5 called from the floor, "don't you have _two_ daughters now?"

"Oh yeah," he answered knowingly, "I suppose that's true."

"So where's the large-ish one? I'm dying to see her."

Finally. That was the first _useful_ thing 5 had said since they had come back to the world of the living. 3 was suddenly so excited, he looked like he might explode.

"_Oh my gosh, just wait 'til you see her, you guys!"_ he flickered. _"Mom, I swear, you won't even recognize her. Dad, where did she go? She was right there with you, wasn't she?"_

"Give 4 some credit," 9 insisted. "Sometimes, she likes to make an entrance as much as you do."

The sound of a throat being cleared drew their attention to the door, where a very unfamiliar face was peering into the room. It was obviously a girl, from the long rope of brown hair that snaked over her shoulder in a side-swept braid. Her face was sweet and adorable, as was her playful smile. And her silvery eyes sparkled in the firelight, full of life and intelligence.

"_Hi, everyone."_

6 felt his breath get snatched away. Was that… Could it be?

7 was equally amazed. Her eyes went wide, and her hands flew over her mouth in surprise as she slowly came toward the girl. "No…" she breathed. "That can't be my 4, can it?"

The girl came into the room to meet her, giggling excitedly. _"Do you like it, mom?" _

"I love it!" she cheered, triumphantly hugging her daughter. "Oh, sweetheart, you look beautiful!"

While other jaws around the room were gaping too wide to say anything, 3 began to laugh. _"See? I told you, you wouldn't recognize her. She goes out a little girl, and she comes back a knockout—only __my__ sister,"_ he commented proudly.

4 spun around on her tip-toes—because she could now—and her own blue robe swished around her like a ball gown. It was also slightly off the shoulder, and made her look very elegant. _"I'll have to take you on a grand tour later, mom. I've done so many things with this body, it would take me all night to point them all out."_

"It suits you so well, 4. So grown up…" 7 sighed shortly and fanned herself with her hand. "Oh, I think I'm going to cry, I'm so proud of you guys."

6 agreed with all of that. He was also very proud of his friends. He also felt like he, too, would start to cry if he looked at 4 much longer. She was simply too pretty to look at. So while the rest of the clan clustered around the twins, asking them questions and admiring their new threads, he remained where he was. Alone by the fireplace, making a very bold attempt not to turn around and look at them. He wanted to… But he was so overwhelmed, he didn't know what else to do with himself.

Another presence suddenly materialized in his personal space; and when he looked up, his mechanical heart nearly stopped entirely. 4 was standing next to him, leaning over with her hands braced against her knees, grinning directly into his face.

"_You've been awfully quiet,"_ she teased. _"So, what do you think? Do you like this?"_ she asked earnestly, shaking her thick braid from side to side.

He couldn't think of any words. None at all. All he could think of to do was look away and stare back into the fire, before his eyes exploded or something.

"_Oh… It's that bad, huh?"_

He stole a quick glimpse of her face and found that it had fallen. He couldn't stand to make her so sad. Gripping his key tightly for comfort, he struggled for the words to defend himself.

"No, no," he stammered, still unable to face her. "Not bad. Just…. You're beautiful."

He imagined she must be smiling again, though still puzzled. _"So why won't you look at me?"_

"I can't," he whispered. "You're _too_ beautiful."

The next thing he knew, she was kneeling on the floor beside him. She snuggled close to his side and rested her head on his shoulder. She had never been close to him like this; and she had never been so… Forward before. This was still the same 4 he loved, but it wasn't the same 4 he had always known. She had definitely become something much more than a child. Careful not to ruin her brand new body, he slowly put his arm around her as not-awkwardly as he could.

"_6, I know what you can give me for my birthday."_

"Really? What's that?"

"_Well…"_ She looked up at him with a mischievous smile. _"You could kiss me."_

Oh darn it. Just when he had begun to feel comfortable, he was paralyzed again. When it became clear that he was too stunned to move, 4 took the situation into her own hands. Her delicate silver fingers gripped his shoulder, pulling his face against hers. She was so soft and warm, just like he always knew she would be. It was so intense and personal, this feeling called love. The only thing worse had been staring his own death in the face, and finding himself able to say it didn't frighten him. She had never inspired such fear in him before…

This was definitely not the 4 he knew, or expected. But ultimately, he didn't mind. In fact, he felt that he could grow used to this quite easily.

"_Just think of what we can be now,"_ she flickered softly. _"You and I… I and you…"_

"Us… We'll be here forever, won't we?"

"_Of course we will. I'm not leaving on my own; are you?"_

"Not unless you and everyone else are going with me."

She snuggled back against him with a content sigh.

"_Forever, then."_

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It seemed that there might never be a constant state of "normal" in their clan. But things seemed to have plateaued as the days grew hot, and June dragged along at a leisurely pace. Mostly, it was simply too hot to run around doing things, causing things to change. No one was growing, no one was really building, and nothing of real interest was happening.

But that was okay with 5. It seemed like all the little, boring things they found to fill their time with were the things he remembered best.

Dixie filled their time especially—she was steadily evolving, and no one wanted to miss even a second of it. Her vocabulary expanded with every day, and she was experimenting with putting words together, only two at a time; rarely, she would attempt a three-word sentence, which always gave 2 a mini-heart attack. She was also starting to recognize the function of numbers, outside the names of her family. She could now say all their names fairly clearly, and figuring out how counting on her fingers and toes was supposed to work. That made 7 extremely proud. Teaching her daughter numbers had been her pet project for months.

Dixie was also starting to move around on her own. She had already been crawling for weeks, and had apparently grown bored with it. She was now pulling herself up using any tall object she could grab onto—the sofa, stacks of books, her parent's mattress, anything at all. The next milestone was supposed to be taking her first steps, while holding onto her support. Instead, she was deviating from the normal path and learning to climb up whatever her support was. A few days earlier, she had succeeded in climbing up onto the sofa all by herself. No one had seen when or how she had done it—one second she had been crawling around on the floor, and when they turned around she was sitting on the sofa.

She seemed to count everyone's surprise and alarm as a good sign, because she squealed and laughed proudly before continuing on up the back of the sofa. While 9 couldn't say he was disappointed, he couldn't say he wasn't worried, either.

"My baby could take over the world, if she wanted to," he commented one afternoon. He and 5 were at their usual habit, walking and talking, tossing a pebble back and forth as they did so. "I mean, her progress is excellent, but it's not normal."

"It's _above_ normal, I should say."

"Yeah, _way_ above. I hope she chooses to use her genius for good instead of evil. This much intelligence on the side of evil could doom us all."

"I guess it already has, in the past."

"True, true… I'm terrified she'll find a way to climb out of her crib, if we leave her alone for too long. If she can pull herself up and climb over the side, it's such a far fall to the floor…"

"You built it too high; you can barely reach her if she's lying down. I don't think she's getting out of there on her own anytime soon."

"Right. She wasn't supposed to be climbing this early, either. Most babies, when they start to climb: they pull themselves up, and then both feet, and then they repeat. But Dixie—oh no, no, no, no, no. she swings her whole leg up and pulls herself up a whole step the first time."

"Sounds like a certain athletic young woman I know. Oh, and there's this really clever guy I know named 9, that she reminds me of, too. Maybe you've heard of him? Nice man, good at figuring things out on his own."

"Okay, okay, I get your point. I'm just… Worried," he insisted, fiddling with the pebble in his hand. "She's my baby. _My_ baby. I made her. She's important to me, and I'm scared she's going to get hurt."

"Children get hurt a lot, just being children. They fall out of trees, hit each other with sticks, skin their knees, get stung and bitten by bugs—it's just what they do. I don't know if they can help it."

"But when they're older, and won't _die_ if another kid hits them with a stick. Dixie's only a baby. If she falls too far, too hard off something, it could seriously hurt her. She could die. That's… That's a really scary thought. And anyway, what parent sends his kid into the world _hoping_ she'll get hit with a stick by another kid? I don't want my precious daughter to get hurt, no matter how old she is."

5 couldn't help smiling, as he patted his brother on the shoulder. "You know, you're really good at being a father. I'm not sure whether you just make it look easy because you're so awesome, or if it just seems easy because Dixie can't sass you yet."

"These days won't last, 5. The sooner she learns to talk properly, the sooner she'll learn to talk back."

No doubt a child that smart would talk back with impeccably perfect grammar, 5 was about to say. But there was a noisy rustling in the tall, thick grass nearby. All around the courtyard, the grass had grown tall enough to hide the feet of the stone muses. Any number of things could be hiding in there. For all they knew, the twins might just be pulling a youthful prank on them—luring their dad and uncle into the tall grass, only to pounce on them. They had gained an uncharacteristic enjoyment of being silly since their birthday.

However, given the other things they knew to be out in the world, they chose to err on the side of caution. Ending their conversation with an understanding nod, they separated and went to circle the statue, each from a different side. As 5 stalked alone into the tall grass, he wondered desperately who or what he would find. He wondered if it was… As badly as he hoped it was, he hoped it wasn't. He was finally feeling like his old self again. It was the very last thing he needed now.

The tall grass ended abruptly, and 5 tumbled out into the shadows behind the statue. He found himself in a sort of tunnel, with the back of the statue and the courtyard wall on either side of him. The space was so small, no sunlight could reach the ground at any time of the day. The ground remained loamy and bare in the perpetual shadow, with only a few pathetic weeds managing to grow in the humidity. Though the June air was still thick and clingy, it was noticeably cooler in the shadow.

And he wasn't alone. A woefully familiar figure greeted his sight, white and pink skin, and frizzy blonde hair all the brighter in the dark. 5 felt his heart plummet to his feet, and he backed away in fear.

"No… Not you again…"

She grinned slyly, amused by his fear.

"It's been a while, 5. Did you miss me?"


	18. The Truth, Revealed

I felt tempted to _seriously_ push 8k this time, but I decided in the end not to bore you. We've all got lives—especially me. This college thing… It's hard. :/ Hence, we have a normal-sized update this time.

And anyways, I know that after two large helpings of filler, what you REALLY want is some Pi. ;D

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_The Truth, Revealed_

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"What's the matter, 5? Aren't you happy to see me?"

In spite of everything he knew about her, even her sinister smile that promised him nothing but harm, 5 felt conflicted. On one hand, she was a monster; she had tried to tear them apart, and her sudden reappearance was frightening. All his senses begged his stupid feet to run, before she did something terrible and irreversible. But on the other hand… What he really wanted to do was leap forward and take her in his arms. He would never let her go again. He didn't care what she was or what she had done in the past…

But then, as he continued to back away from her, he supposed that he did care, a little.

"Pi… Why did you have to come back?"

She rolled her eyes. "I was stupid to try and take you people while I was so weak. I needed my strength back. And anyway, I always do my best work when I can be myself. None of the sweet, innocent crap to hold me back. Ha, it fooled you all so well last time."

Yeah, he admitted that it had. It was probably a bad idea, but he made a decision to look her in the eye. Even if she had turned out to be evil, even if she intended to destroy him right here and now, she still had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. And at least the view would be memorable, before he died.

And as he did, he noticed something was different—something that hadn't been there before. Or maybe it had been there all along, and he had been too clueless to see it. Her eyes looked strange, as if they were full of swirling silver mist. It only served to make her look more mysterious and dangerous. But at the same time, an alarm went off in his head. This was familiar.

_Wait a minute… Isn't that what she did to 7?_

Pi met his gaze and laughed shortly. "You haven't changed a bit, you big lummox," she commented. "You can't tell me you actually missed me all this time. Not after you've seen who I _really_ am. I'm not the soft, sweet little girl I played you for—I'm a witch. You know that. You saw it with your own eyes, and heard it with your own ears. So don't' try to tell me you still think you _love_ me."

He gave her a stern but affirmative look, almost as if she was implying something ridiculous. Him, not love her? It could never be.

"Huh… You're either insane or very stupid. Just like your stripey brother."

Before she could continue, something flew through the air and smacked into the back of her head with a sickening thump. She cried out in pain and pitched forward, landing gracelessly on her knees.

"You must have a death wish, Pi."

It was 9, well-hidden in the shadows, with another several large pebbles in hand. All that fury from winter had risen back to the surface in a flash. There was no fear there, for the danger she posed to his family—only rage that she had dared to return. From now on, he was shooting to kill.

"Not the first time someone's tried to beat you to death, is it?" he commented, as he began advancing on her. "I can't say we really blame them anymore."

Pi growled in her throat and rubbed the back of her head. "Do let me explain—"

"Don't bother. It won't matter in a few minutes."

5's heart began to race. He couldn't let his brother do this. Not yet. Before either of them could react much, he dropped to his knees next to Pi and reached for her shoulder, aiming for what he liked to think of as the sleeper circuit. The wire had a technical name, but he never remembered it; the important part was that when it was disrupted, the body it powered shut down temporarily. As a doctor's assistant, it was a handy wire to be aware of. He had never dreamed he'd be using it for this.

But it worked. Pi gasped in surprise… Then her misty eyes slid shut, and she slumped over into his arms. She couldn't hurt them now, and he had bought himself some time to explain what he had seen.

As he quickly checked her pulse and temperature, 9 came to a halt in front of him.

"What are you doing?" he asked incredulously. 5 was certain his brother wanted to tear his head off, but he didn't care.

"I always knew that something wasn't right," he answered instead. "Come here. Look at this."

"I don't have time for this, 5! She could kill us! I'm not taking that risk again, not after what she did to us before."

"I think she's cursed."

"Cursed, indeed!"

"Would you just look? _Please_."

9 looked aggravated and angry, and also disappointed. They had been doing so well since she had gone away. He had become so much more like his good old self, the kind, dorky 5 they had all loved and missed so much. And now _she_ reappears out of nowhere, and he falls back into her trap so easily?

_I guess I would be disappointed, too…_

To his relief, 9 sighed impatiently and dropped his handful of pebbles on the ground. He didn't join his brother on the ground, instead crossing him arms defensively.

"What is it?"

"Look at her eyes," he insisted, gently sliding one of the girl's eye shutters open. "Her eyes are all cloudy. Did you notice that when she was here before?"

"You looked into her eyes? Do _you_ have a death wish? She never looked me in the eye before; and by the time she made a point to try, I knew better. 7 made that mistake and she got cursed!"

"…"

9 made a thoughtful face, considering what he had just said as a connection started forming. "…Cloudy, you say?"

"Doesn't that sound familiar to you? It does to me."

His brother finally knelt next to him, daring to finally look closely at Pi's open eye. He was silent for a long moment, grappling with a very difficult decision.

"9, I kept telling you something didn't seem right. Maybe we can still help her."

"I don't want her in our house, 5. I don't care if we can help her, I can't have her in our house, plaguing us again. What are the others going to say? They won't allow it, either."

It wasn't like 9 to deny help to someone in need; but he was afraid. He had a wife and three children to think of, all of whom had been touched very personally by Pi in the past—even Dixie, who had gotten caught and nearly forgotten in the crossfire. And while 5 could understand his brother's fear, he couldn't give her up. Not this time, when he was so close to the real truth.

"…Then I'll do it myself," he said resolutely. "I'll do it all on my own, if I have to."

"Still? After all this time? After all she's done to us, you would still risk your own life like this?"

"Yes. Yes I would."

9 sighed heavily, tapping his finger impatiently on his knee as he weighed the conflict he faced. Perhaps, knowing firsthand the strange things that love could inspire, he would find favor with his brother's noble cause.

"…I'll let the others know that we have an unexpected guest, then."

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Pi felt consciousness return, to the sound of irritatingly familiar voices. She also realized with a start that she couldn't move her arms, and that frightened her. Her eyes flew open to a cozy space, illuminated by firelight, as always. She was lying on the sofa in the fifth clan's common room, and her arms were bound to her sides by a thick, inescapable coil of rope. With a yelp of unpleasant surprise, she tried to wriggle free—only for a pair of grizzled faces to appear above her, one brandishing a hammer, and his brother a wrench.

"Don't move," 2 growled, threatening to club her if she didn't settle down. She had never seen him angry before, and that was as frightening as it was amusing. She couldn't help the evil smile that spread over her lips.

"Surprised to see me?" she teased.

"Shut up!" 1 snapped back. "You are lucky I am no longer in charge of this clan—you would be a head short of a full body, if I had my way."

Pi didn't dare say another word, though she very much wanted to. Instead, she wondered to herself what it was with 1's desire to remove people's heads. It was like it was his punishment of choice, though she doubted he had the nerve to see it through on anyone.

"So she wakes," said that mellow voice, though it certainly didn't ooze the gentleness it had the first time she's heard it. 9 appeared in front of her, looking unimpressed, though not as angry as before. He put his hand on the doctor's shoulder, forcing him to lower his wrench. "2, you see what we mean, right?"

"Hm…" he agreed, looking her steadily, unflinchingly in the eye. If only her hands had been free to direct the power of a spell, it would have been the opportune moment to ensnare the old man. But alas. She could only imagine that far away, in their garage, Alpha was furious with her for failing again.

_Don't do anything rash just yet, my love. There may yet be a way around this._

"I suppose it is very similar," the old man commented slowly. "How do we know it's the same thing, though? I don't like this."

"I don't like it either, but 5 has a point," 9 insisted. "If it is the same thing, maybe we can help her."

Pi couldn't help flinching at the oaf's name. What had he seen? What had he done? One trouble after the next…

"I can look," said a meek voice nearby. It was googley-eyed 6, slowly stepping forward to offer what service he could give.

"I can look," he repeated, wiggling his pen nib fingers for emphasis, making it clear what he intended to do.

_"No! You don't have to do that,"_ someone flickered from a corner. Pi craned her head around, expecting to see the skittish little twins. But… They couldn't be the twins. They were taller, their heads uncovered, and the one who appeared to have spoken had a full head of long brown hair in a braid over her shoulder.

_"Remember what happened last time?"_ the girl continued, her eyes flashing brightly. _"I don't want you touching her again!"_

And yet it _was_ them. Pi felt her eye twitch a little. What sorcery was this?

"No, no, I'll do it," 6 insisted, first to the twins, and then he turned to his fearless leader. "I can do it. I really can. I can do it. Please."

9 didn't seem to like it any more than his adopted children did. But 5 stepped up to save the day again.

"Just let him try," he pleaded. "If he wants to help, let him."

"…Alright, then, 6. If you insist, I'm not going to stop you."

Now she was confused. _Fickle 5, do you have faith in your Prophet, or not? You should, of course—they're never wrong. Your lack of faith gave me some time, before. And now you're going to doom me, I'm sure._

6 bravely came to stand right over her, bracing himself for the pain that would surely come if he touched her. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself… And then grabbed her hand in both of his, as tightly as he could. His grip was like iron and made her gasp in pain, certain that he was going to break her hand if he went on like this. But his own pain looked to be much worse than hers. His touch didn't burn her like it burned him. He was in so much pain, but he refused to let go. Whatever he was seeing, it was much more than the glimpse he had seen before.

_What could really be so bad about me? Certainly, I mean them harm, but why this?_

Several long, intense seconds passed this way, until he couldn't stand it anymore and released her from his grip. He collapsed on the floor, exhausted and twitching convulsively from pain. Before either of his brothers could help him, 4 skittered to his side and gathered him into her arms.

_"I told you not to touch her!"_ she scolded gently, beginning to rock him slowly. She held his hand solidly in her own, softly flickered comforting words in his ear. Her very presence seemed to soothe him a little, and he stopped twitching so badly; but he was still in pain, wracked so badly he could barely speak.

Pi was even more confused, partially by all the sticky, gooey affection that had exploded between the girl who had grown up so suddenly, and the striped boy who had blown her cover. While seeing him in so much pain didn't inspire any sort of sympathy, it inspired unease. _What could I have done to him_, she wondered, _without even uttering a spell? What power is this? I didn't know I even possessed it._

9 knelt beside his shaking brother and took his free hand, and the boy shuddered violently.

_"It's okay, 6, it's okay,"_ 4 insisted, looking like she might cry. _"I'm here, I'm right here—we all are, see? Everything's going to be okay, okay?"_

"…The curse…" he finally stammered, his voice raspy.

"What about the curse?" 9 insisted gently. "Come on, you can tell me. Tell me about the curse."

"The spider," he continued, struggling the get the words out. "The curse…. The kiss… Freedom…"

There weren't many things those words could mean. But what it added up to was implausible. Impossible.

_No… He couldn't have… Alpha would never… Not me! He would never put a curse on _me_, of all people! That's for us to use on others—he was the one who taught me in the first place! He would never turn our own magic on me! Never!_

But it wasn't like the fifth clan knew any of this. 9 nodded knowingly and looked to his daughter.

"You and your brother, take him back to the globe. Give him some paper and let him draw this. When he's done, bring it to me, alright?"

The twins did as they were told, and helped 6 to his feet. His legs shook horribly, and he had to lean heavily on them as they silently made their way to the door. 4 only looked over her shoulder once, looking upset and a little put out.

_"Don't let his pain be for nothing, dad."_

As soon as they were gone, he looked back to 5. "What was that thing you did to her?" he asked, pointing to his neck.

"The sleeper circuit?"

"Yeah, that. Do it again."

5 looked puzzled—not unusual. "Why?" he asked.

"Just do it."

With a disapproving sigh, 5 came and knelt beside the sofa. He placed his hand firmly on her shoulder, and she flinched away; but bound as she was, there was no escape.

"I'm really sorry, Pi," he said quietly. "I don't want to do this again; but it's the only way you can stay here. It's the only way we can save you."

Before she could try to argue, he gave her shoulder a hard pinch—the same as he had done before. The sharp pain was followed by darkness, and she knew no more.

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"So... What do we think?"

The clan was still more than dubious about Pi, that was for certain. 9 wasn't sure how he should feel about her, himself. They had all congregated in the globe—say for 8, who had been left guarding the sleeping witch like a vigilant falcon. And he was against her being in their home again, as much as the rest of them.

To his question, the clan was silent for a long moment. He looked around and observed all their varied emotions. 1 and 2 were impatient; 3 and 4 were worried; 5 was hopeful, of course; 6 was still exhausted, but not altogether upset. And 7 was furious. He couldn't blame his wife, nor could he try to reason with her. She had defensively carried their sleeping baby into the meeting with her, unwilling to leave her precious child alone with a monster in the house. But Dixie went on sleeping, and had nothing to offer the group. Thank goodness.

9 also looked over his brother's latest work of art, tacked to the wall where everyone could see it. 6 had drawn something very similar to this in January, when he had first sensed that something was wrong with Pi. He wasn't very good at drawing living, moving things; so when he did, they appeared as menacing shadows. The shadow he had drawn today was distinctly Stitchpunk-shaped, and riding what looked like a mechanical spider—very much like the previous drawing. The sketch was surrounded by scribbled letter A's, all upper case, though of varying sizes, shapes and neatness.

Most of them remembered the same shadows from before, and the same upper case A repeating itself. However, there was a marked difference. In the first drawing, the shadows had been separated—the dark 'punk had been standing proudly beside the spider, which looked dead and dormant. Today, they were united—the spider seemed to have roared to life, carrying its rider forth to wreak havoc on the world.

Also, the letter A—called Alpha, in this instance—had been surrounded by other letters of the Greek alphabet before. Pi's name had been there, shaped like a table. There had been a triangle called Delta, which 6 had pointed to with particular excitement that even he couldn't explain. An upside-down letter L, and a letter O with a line through it—Gamma and Theta—stood side by side, as if they belonged together. Four other, smaller letters floated in the upper right-hand corner—Kappa, Mu, Epsilon and Sigma—apart from the others, as if they mattered, but not really.

Today, the letter Alpha stood alone, with no other letters to compete for attention. It was frightening, and no one fully understood what it meant, not even the artist.

"Well?" 9 repeated when the clan remained silent. "What do we think?"

"I think this was a stupid idea," 7 snapped angrily. "I think you've put us all in danger, and I think we should go back in the common room and kill her while we have a chance."

Most of the heads in the room nodded earnest agreement. If they had an opportunity to rid the world of the plight that was Pi, they ought to take it and do everyone a favor. And judging from 6's latest prophecy, keeping her alive in their home would only bring them more trouble. There was no room for compassion or mercy this time, and frankly, most of them were content and more than satisfied with that.

But 6 came to stand by his sister, took her by the arm, and shook her gently for emphasis. "No, no, you can't do that," he insisted, earning a most incredulous look.

"Why not?" she demanded.

"The curse—"

"I don't care about the curse, 6!" she shouted, pushing him away. "My children are all in danger! I have to take care of _them_, not her. If _some_ people can't do that," she said, glaring at her husband, "then I'll have to do it myself. And what has _she _ever done to earn our help?"

"Nothing," 6 answered meekly, standing his ground.

"Then _why_ are you pestering us like this?"

Now he turned an incredulous look of his own on her, as if her excellent points were all ludicrous. "Because it's just true," he answered, counting off the pieces of his prophecy on his four fingers. "The spider. The curse. The kiss. Freedom."

7 shook her head. "I don't understand. I don't know what you're talking about."

"…Would you like to?"

"No. No, I wouldn't."

Perhaps that was enough for some of them. But 9 couldn't help finding himself overwhelmingly curious. 6 knew what was going on. He had seen it clearly, and was trying desperately to explain it in words they could also understand. What was the message hidden in his drawing? What was that _one_ word he was leaving out, that would make everything click together? The truth was right in front of them, staring them in the face, begging them to see it as clearly 6 always did. What kept it veiled so well? What was lurking behind that cloud? Did he even want to know?

Once again, trying to get the message through to 7 had failed abysmally. 6 turned to 9, grabbing him by the wrist and hauling him closer to his drawing. He reached up and smacked his hand down solidly against the shadowy figures.

"The spider," he repeated, with a note of irritation in his voice. "The spider. The curse."

"Are they the same?"

"No, no, no," 6 mumbled, thinking frustratedly of the right words to use. "The source."

9 felt his heart stop for a split second, and he was sure that everyone else felt the same. "You mean the talisman? The spider has one, too?"

"No, no! Not the Source, _the source_," he cried, his voice rising. "The spider. The source. The curse."

"…The spider is the source of the curse?"

6's whole face lit up with surprise and relief. Finally, they had figured the first part out. And indeed, it was painfully obvious now. How else could the two pieces _really_ be connected? The truth was falling into place, exactly the way 9 feared it would.

"Then the spider put the curse on Pi, right?"

6 wordlessly nodded his head, cautiously optimistic.

"And it _is_ the same curse she put on 7 before… right?"

Once again, he nodded his head. "The same. She isn't who she is."

"Or who she thinks she is, just like 7… So what are we supposed to do, 6? Do you know?"

"The kiss," he answered plainly. "The kiss. Freedom."

Seriously? True love was _seriously_ the only way to lift this curse? 9 felt his spirits plummet. It had seemed that a reasonable solution had been within reach; maybe they really could have done something. Behind him, he heard 7 scoff impatiently.

"True love's kiss? Really?" she fumed. "You've got to be kidding me! When it was me, and my husband, that was one thing. But this is Pi. She's a monster. No one could ever love her."

6 gave her that unfathomable look again. "…Really?"

"Yes, really! We have to face it now—if true love's kiss is the only way to lift this curse, then Pi is trapped this way forever. She can never be freed, she can never be helped, and she will go on terrorizing us if we let her go again. 9, 6, I know you don't like to hear it, but the only way we can free her now is to destroy her."

"She has a point," 1 agreed right away, perhaps a little too eagerly. "At this point, it would probably be as much a favor to the girl as it is to us."

It was such a weighty conflict, and 9 hated it that the decision rested solely on his own shoulders. He had already caused so much death and destruction in the past, caused the loss of so many innocent lives. He had thought that was finally behind him, buried in the past, never to resurrect itself. If Pi could be saved, he was very tempted to go off questing again, searching for her salvation, before he had to kill her. Before, she had been nothing but a monster that deserved death. But now he knew the truth he had longed for, and it only served to complicate everything. Beneath the spell that bound her, Pi really was innocent.

He dearly wished that there was a way to help her, but his wife was correct—as she usually was. How he had hoped that the truth would clarify things, make it easier to make a decision. He now wished that it was still as easy as nobly ridding the world a pestilence.

And then it suddenly dawned on him. Of all the voices and opinions clambering for his attention, one was distinctly missing. 9 took a second to look over the crowd, and realized with a start that his brother had vanished.

"…Where's 5?"

Everyone looked up to see with a similar start, the place he had been standing was empty. It was as if he had never even been there.

"When did he leave? Did anybody see him go?"

_"Why would we be looking at him?"_ 3 pointed out. _"We were all watching you, and 6, and mom."_

"And where do you suppose is the one place he would run off to, at a time like this?" 7 concluded, her voice a threatening growl.

There was no time now to stop and consider all the courses of action before him. Without thinking much more about it, 9 started off at once for the common room, praying he could stop his poor stupid brother before he got himself in real trouble.

_He can't think it's him. Not after everything that's happened…_

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"The kiss. Freedom." That was all the permission 5 felt he needed. True love's kiss, huh? Then it was worth a shot.

He marched into the common room alone, feeling as confident as he felt nervous. 8 was still there, standing guard, and Pi was still unconscious on their sofa. When he came in, his brother looked up, slightly surprised.

"You're back," the giant commented.

"Yep," 5 agreed flatly, walking to stand beside the sofa. He paused, taking a moment to appreciate Pi's pretty, sleeping face. She looked so peaceful and serene. It was hard to believe that she was under the influence of such dark, powerful magic. He couldn't fathom what her real self must be like. But he honestly couldn't care less about that. It didn't matter who or what she really was. He would love her just as much—maybe even more, if that was possible.

He sat down on the edge of the sofa and gently scooped her up in his arms, but she barely moved. He was somewhat grateful for that. If she had woken, he couldn't imagine how she would have recoiled. As if an added insult of the spell was that the victim was repulsed by the one person who could save her. But for right now, it was safe to hold her close, even to sweetly nuzzle her face.

"You once said," he said quietly, "it's always easier to make a mess than it is to clean it up, especially when it's someone else's mess. My family doesn't care, and I can't say I really blame them. Why should they have to clean this up, when it's not their problem? But I care. I always have cared, Pi. And I think the good part of you—the part that's been stolen—has always known that, too.

"What's been done to you isn't right, and it isn't fair. And if you can't clean up your own mess, then I want to be the one to do it. I want to be the one to save you. I want to be the one…"

He caressed her face, brushing her frizzy hair away from her ear. "I want you to be free, Pi. If nothing else, I want you to be free."

He lowered his face to her ear and whispered, "I love you. With my very soul, I love you."

The nervousness melted away. What he was about to do, he knew in his heart that it was the right thing. There was no shame, no shyness, no selfishness or ill will. There was only her, and the bright future that loomed for her on the horizon, just beyond the kiss he couldn't believe he had the privilege of giving.

_This is why I've come back. This is why I'm alive again. It's for you._

As he gently pressed his lips to her sleeping face, he wondered what it would be like. And it turned out to be pure and perfect, just like he had hoped it would be. It was the sort of perfection he understood only existed in stories and fairy tales, only very rarely among mere mortals. It was so grand and so profound, it could only exist in small pieces at a time. How else could it be special enough to break such a deep, dark bond as this?

And yet, he had found it. Of all people, it had chosen to find him, and his Pi, and dared to defy the very fabric of nature to unite them.

He was startled from that perfect moment by someone shouting his name in unpleasant surprise. Of course 9 would have noticed he had left; he hadn't thought his absence would go unnoticed for long, and especially not by his sharp brother. But he was too late to change things.

"What are you doing?" 7's voiced demanded angrily behind him. Naturally, she would insist on getting herself involved. She always did, somehow. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Wait," he countered, holding up his hand to silence them. Something was happening. She still appeared to be unconscious, but Pi drew in a deep breath, as great as her mechanical lungs would allow. She released it in a long, almost unearthly sigh, and her breath hit him in the face like a frigid, icy wind. Suddenly, 5 was worried.

"Her breath is like ice," he fretted, checking her pulse and temperature. Both were normal, steady and warm, as if nothing had changed at all. He turned to his brother and sister, slightly terrified. "What's happening?" he asked, hoping they could help.

They both looked shocked and mildly alarmed, by what they had just seen, and what they had just heard.

"Like ice?" 9 repeated, sounding disbelieving, but almost hopeful. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive! What did I do to her? What did I do? Tell me!"

9 was silent, his eyes locked on him in what might have been wonder if it hadn't been shock.

"…She's free. You freed her."


	19. An Explanation

Pi's memory reads kind of like a gaslight romance (Steampunk-style romance), which I really like. She's very romantic, as you will soon find out. Reading her memories in Kirsten Dunst's voice also helps there. :D

Further, I probably removed Epsilon and Sigma from the Big Book of OC's in my profile because they are so minor. But they are in this chapter, and are voiced by Christopher Lloyd and Jennifer Anniston, respectively. We will also meet Mu, Pi's crazy older sister, and some 'punks from the other clans—particularly Parsley, who will be important much farther down the road. (Deets in the Big Book. ;D)

Also, if you haven't listened to Mary Black's rendition of _Both Sides the Tweed_, DO IT NOW! 9 sings the harmony part this time! 8D

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_An Explanation_

2222222222

Something was different. Very different. Pi couldn't place the feeling, but it was light and floating, and felt like it might be nostalgia. Or déjà vu. She slowly opened her eyes; with a joy and relief that took it sweet time registering, she found 5 sitting beside her on the sofa. He had her head cradled in his arm, and held her hand in his own. And she found at once that she had been untied.

But mostly, she was just overwhelmingly happy to see his smiling, goofy face.

"Welcome back, Pi," he said softly, sounding like he might begin to cry. "How are you feeling?"

Pi gave him a vague smile as she searched herself, not entirely sure how she was feeling, exactly. What had happened before she had fainted…?

Remembering brought the onslaught of painful emotions that always came whenever she was momentarily free of her curse. Guilt, shame, confusion, fear—all punched her in the stomach. Her smile faded in an instant, and she began to tremble violently. Before it could dawn on her that she was _actually_ free, she realized something just as important:

5 was here, and Alpha was not. She was safe.

"Help me," she whimpered, gripping his arm with all the strength she could find. "_Please_ help me."

As she dissolved into tears, 5 pulled her up into his warm embrace. There was a fierceness in the way he held her so close, a protectiveness that dared anything evil to try and touch her. She hadn't felt so safe since her father had been alive. Thinking of her father and how bitterly she had failed him only made her cry harder. 5 began to rock her slowly, gently hushing her and whispering soothing words in her ear. She could barely hear them over her own anguished sobbing, and all the terrible thoughts running through her mind.

But hearing his voice somewhere in the background did comfort her, and gave her something reassuring to cling to. After what seemed like an eternity of wheeling psychological torment, 5 took her face in his hand and directed her gaze up to his.

"Pi, who did this to you?" he asked gravely. "Tell me what happened to you."

2222222222

Back in their bedroom, 7 watched her husband with concern. She was less than pleased that he had allowed Pi back in their home, whether she was unconscious, cursed, or whatever. In any case, she had been fully prepared to stab the witch through the heart and have it done with it. (She had briefly considered doing the same to 9, while she was at it.) Up until mere minutes ago, it had appeared to be the only choice they had.

Up until mere minutes ago, she had also thought her brother was a love-struck idiot. But mere minutes ago, she had been proven incorrect on all counts. Again. And now she wasn't sure what she thought of anything. Neither was 9, who was now pacing uneasily back and forth across their bedroom floor.

It was unlike him to be so unsure of anything—especially of the outlandish and fantastic. Usually, he was the first of them to believe in fantasy before logic. She wondered what it was about their unusual situation that made him doubt himself so. There was a long list of reasons to be upset, she supposed. But being upset was what the rest of them always did, while he somehow managed to keep his head on straight. While her husband, her captain, felt so directionless, she wasn't sure what to do with herself.

Oh right. She was his wife, and it was her duty to support him and help him find direction. It had been a long time since he had particularly needed her full support to lean on. She had nearly forgotten.

"9, come sit down with me," she insisted, patting the empty space on the bed beside her. He was reluctant to abandon his pacing at first, maybe even a little surprised that she wasn't so angry anymore. But he stopped in mid step, and came to sit beside her. His head sank into his hands, and he gave a heavy sigh.

"I'm so confused…"

She reached up and began gently rubbing his back, hoping her touch would soothe him. "Why are you confused?" she asked, feeling more like a therapist than a wife.

"I don't know. I feel so… strange. Not like myself."

That gave 7 an idea. Maybe he was sitting in the wrong place. She took his hands and hauled him to his feet, leading him to sit in her rocking chair instead. As he sat down and slowly began to rock, she stood beside him and gave his shoulder a squeeze.

"Use your marvelous brain and find the words you need," she encouraged him. "I'm listening."

"I have no idea what to make of what just happened," he said finally. "It doesn't seem real. But I can't pretend it isn't. He really did just… _free_ her, didn't he?"

7 slowly nodded her head. "Yes, he did."

"And you know what that means. You know everything that means."

"Well… True love, for one. I know, dearest, I can't quiet grasp it, either."

"It's a good thing," 9 insisted blankly, more to reassure himself than anything. "It's exactly what I'd always hoped for. I mean… It's 5—he's my brother. And he's loved her since we found her. Even when it threatened to tear us apart, he wouldn't back down. He refused to give up on her. After all this time… What could be truer than that?"

7 couldn't help but smile. "Dreams really do come true, sometimes. You have a habit of forcing them to."

"Then why does it make me feel so bad?"

She paused and considered this. While the turn in events was wonderful and more than deserved, she didn't feel so terrific about it either. She sighed and rubbed his arm comfortingly. "You're not one to make a lot of mistakes; when you do, you take it too personally. We all misjudged them. Badly. We're all going to have to own up to that."

"What about the picture? What does it mean? What does it have to do with Pi, or the curse, or our family? I don't know if we can trust her. If I give her another chance and she crushes us…. I can't do that, 7. I wish I could, but I just can't do that to you. I'm… I'm afraid. I don't' know what to do."

It pained her to see her beloved so out of sorts. She took a moment to search her own heart, evaluate her mixed up feelings with a little clarity. And finally, she made a command decision. It wasn't necessarily in her nature to take orders exclusively from her notoriously fickle heart. But looking there, the answer she found was too overwhelming to be ignored.

"9, do you trust me?"

He looked up at her, his expression a little hurt that she would ask such a thing. He put his hand on hers and said, "Of course I do. I trust you with my life."

Reaffirmed, she came around and slid into her husband's snuggly lap, swinging her legs over the opposite arm of the chair. He wrapped his arms around her and held her like a teddy bear, rocking the chair a little faster. In spite of his fears, she felt safe. She always felt safe with him. Given her revelation and all that she knew to be true, she could only imagine that back in the common room, Pi felt the same under 5's watchful care.

"We need to listen to them," she said quietly.

"…You think so?"

"If she's free, she's free. Believe me, I know. Pi can't hurt us anymore."

"Are you sure about that?"

"_Trust me_."

So that's what that was about. He sighed heavily and was silent. She didn't doubt that he trusted her, but she could appreciate the precarious burden on his shoulders. She couldn't imagine how nervous she would have been in his place.

"What shall we do, then?" he asked.

"We should talk to her, for starters. She must be terrified. I know I was. Terrified, confused, guilty… And she's only a little girl, after all."

He thoughtfully ran his hand over her thigh, savoring her comforting warmth and solidness. "Oh… You're probably right, I know. You always are. I just wish I didn't have to make the _best_ decision for _all_ of us. It's all on me. If I screw it up again, what will we do?"

Sitting up a little taller, she turned his face to hers, nuzzling his nonexistent nose. "You don't have to do this all by yourself. That's what you've got me for—I'm your wife. I'm here for you." With a short laugh, she added, "They do say, behind every successful man is a woman who actually knows what's going on."

9 laughed, as well. "Is that what they say?"

"Well, I might have stretched it a little."

His spirits impossibly lifted, he snuggled her closer with a smile. It was good to see him smiling again. Resting her head on his shoulder, she decided he could also use a song. And the third verse of their favorite song came to mind at once; it was more than fitting.

_Let virtue distinguish the brave,__  
__Place riches in lowest degree.__  
__Think them poorest who can be a slave,__  
__Them richest who dare to be free._

To her pleasant surprise, 9 joined her on the chorus in perfect, soaring harmony:

_Let the love of our land's sacred rights  
To the love of our people succeed  
Let friendship and honour unite  
And flourish on both sides the Tweed._

In the middle of the bed, deep asleep on her tummy, Dixie stirred a little at her parent's sweet singing. Her eyes flickered open ever so slightly, only to slide shut again with a cute little yawn. Naptime was nowhere near over yet. Suddenly, the world was perfect again.

"You and I have been through so much together," 7 quietly commented. "There's a lifetime ahead of us for more. And now, there's one for them, as well."

"In spite of how confusing this all is, that's comforting. Alright, then. Let's go see them."

As they walked hand in hand back to the common room, she wondered how the rest of their clan was taking the news. They had all been informed of what had happened, and some of them weren't satisfied. The elders were still angry, and still felt like bashing the girl's head in before she tricked the rest of them like she had their leader, their beta, and 5. (Again! Not surprising.) But there had to be an explanation for this that even 1 and 2 would entertain. She was certain of that now.

_6 has probably known what it is all along, and just won't tell us…_

When they came into the common room, they found 5 and Pi alone, on the sofa where they had left them. She was awake now, and seemed to have imploded on herself, curled up in a pathetic ball and sobbing miserably. 5 held her defensively close, as if protecting her from something. She knew that look—his attention didn't dare be elsewhere, while the one he loved was so distraught. He had waited unflinchingly for this moment for so long…

When he heard them come in, he turned his head to see them. His expression was neutral, but sort of expectant. They knew what had to be said, but they suddenly weren't sure what to say for their error. After a long, tense moment of silence between the three of them, 9 finally found the words they needed.

"5… We're sorry."

Which was all that needed to be said. He nodded his head and answered, "Come here. We could use your help."

It seemed like they had been through something serious while they had been alone. How long had she been awake? That didn't matter, really. 9 came forward first and knelt on the floor in front of her.

"Pi?"

She slowly looked up at him, her eyes completely clear, but full of despair and fear.

"We're sorry to you, as well. Will you let us help you, this time?"

She trembled and sniffled, but couldn't answer him. Her eyes darted back and forth nervously, finally looking up to her protector her guidance. He gave her a gentle, loving look, and ran his fingers over her hair.

"Pi, honey, you need to tell them what you told me."

7 came to stand beside her husband and added, "We want to help you. If there's anything you need, we'll listen."

Pi finally, weakly nodded her head. "Gather the others," she whispered.

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_Four years earlier…_

You could say it began with the congress. At the beginning of each season, the four remaining clans would gather at what used to be city hall, before the war. It was a fitting place, we supposed, since we met to exchange news, company, and occasionally goods. It started as nicely as any other congress, except that the fourth clan appeared to be… diminished. Three of their number had vanished already that year. Members of other clans were also missing.

But our clan—the first clan—was as intact as always. My big brother, Kappa, had been killed during the war; but there were still the eight of us. Of course, Alpha never came to the congress. He preferred to be alone, he said. Instead, he always relied on my sister for news. Mu was his mate, and I supposed they made a fine pair; he was very handsome, and she was very beautiful, and they got along quite nicely, even if she was gone most of the time. Perhaps that's what made their relationship work so well.

I always wished they would marry, but they never did. I had always pictured their wedding as romantic and lovely. They always said that it would never do, and that such things were for people who had no trust. I could see their reasoning, I supposed, but it still seemed wrong to me, somehow. Father and mother didn't like it much, either, but they allowed it, in the end. The other clans were against it, as well, even though it was none of their business.

Parsley, the leader of the diminished fourth clan, was the first to point out how odd it was that our family was the only one who wasn't missing people. She approached my father, Epsilon, before everyone, that magnetic bar she always carries nonchalantly in hand. (She has an addiction, but manages to make it look ever so classy, dignified, and refined.)

"You should look into that," she said in her aged but beautiful voice. "Whatever is snatching our people will probably come for yours, eventually."

Father wasn't amused that she would think that _we_ had something to do with it. All the same, he neutrally answered, "We will certainly look into that. Thank you for your advice, Parsley. And we will watch for the missing. With any luck, they will turn up somewhere in the ruins; and if we happen upon each other, we will make sure they make it back to you at the next congress."

That evening, we were all startled to look up and find that Mu had vanished, along with Rosemary, another member of fourth clan. Very fearful, the four leaders dismissed the congress early, and my family rushed off to find my sister. We prayed that whole trip that she had returned home ahead of us to see her mate; but we were terrified that she had been taken by whatever was abducting everyone.

Therefore, you can imagine our relief when we got back to the garage and found Mu safely inside with Alpha. And you can imagine our surprise to find that Rosemary was with them, safe and sound. Once again, father was less than pleased.

"Do you have any idea how distracted we went, looking for you?" he thundered at the two girls. "We thought you had vanished like the others! Parsley already thinks we have something to do with it—she'll have my head for this! Do you know how this makes us look?"

To this, my sister rolled her eyes. Alpha snapped back, "They didn't mean to cause any trouble. They were only looking for a good time, weren't you, girls?"

"Of course," Mu agreed. "It's so much more fun here with us, don't you agree, Rosie?"

Rosemary giggled girlishly. "It's _way_ better than being stuck with a bunch of crusty old geezers, sitting around chatting about the weather. Boring," she sang.

Father shook his head, ready to yell at them again, when mother interceded in her calm manner. "I suppose we can understand that. All the same, young ladies, you should have warned someone before you wandered away. We were all worried about you."

"Right, right," Mu dismissed.

"And Rosemary, you need to go back to your clan in the morning. And Mu, you need to go with her, make sure she gets back safely, and apologize to Parsley for all the trouble you caused."

That was the last the triplets and I knew of it, because in the morning, Rosemary and Mu were both gone. Mu showed up again in the afternoon, said that she had done as she was told, and that we shouldn't worry about it again.

We shouldn't have listened to her…

A few weeks passed, and she took off again, wandering off into the ruins by herself as she often did. Given the number of missing people without an identified cause, mother and father didn't want her to go again; she had to sneak out in the middle of the night. We were all worried again, and didn't expect to see her for many days, if ever again.

Only a day or two passed, and father could bear it no longer. He packed a few things and marched out on his own to find her. But he returned in only a few hours. To our utter horror, he returned carrying her mangled body in his arms.

What was worse, it wasn't the random, haphazard work of a machine. All her limbs were broken, one of her smoky purple arms completely severed and missing. The left side of her pale face was slashed open, so she could barely form her final words. Her right eye was smashed in, destroyed beyond reckoning, and the lens of her other eye was badly cracked. Several crucial parts of her wiring had been ripped right out of her body, leaving feeble sparking.

This had been the planned, intentional work of other Stitchpunks. Someone had attacked her, ripped her to pieces, and left her in the wilderness to die. Who would do this to my sister? And why? _Why_?

As she lay in her bed, her life ebbing away, she seemed more furious than anything else. Not frightened, not sad, not even comforted to be surrounded by her family. Just furious, like a wounded beast. Then something else terrifying and awful happened. Alpha came and knelt beside her, leaning into her face with a bland, slightly annoyed look on his own.

"Why have you failed me, Mu?" he demanded.

Still furious, she looked startled, and now perhaps a bit frightened. And so were we. He was her mate. How could he say something so cruel to her, when she was on her deathbed and needed his compassion? He then stalked away to his private quarters, and refused to speak to her or even look at her again.

When the last of her life slipped away, I cried. I had never been particularly close to my sister, and she had never really cared for me. She said that I was a silly little girl, that I couldn't do anything useful, that I didn't have a purpose. But she was still my sister, and she had died a violent, painful death at the hands of our own kind. And in spite of our strained relationship, I was sad. Whatever we could have been with time was gone.

While our family sat in grief, Alpha suddenly reappeared and approached my father. But before our Bearer could say anything, my father shoved him back.

"This is all your fault!" he thundered. "If you had been with her, you could have saved her! She was your mate! Where were you!"

"That doesn't matter anymore," Alpha answered coolly. And then I looked up, surprised to find his finger in my face. "I'm here for her."

Mother pulled me close, away from him, as I began to shake. "You've already allowed one of our daughters to be killed," she spat back. "We won't let you touch another one of them!"

"That's not your choice, Sigma," he answered. "I'm taking her. Now. It is my decision."

"You can't have her," father snapped. "I'll die first!"

Alpha shrugged. "Alright, Epsilon. Have it your way."

He spoke a sharp, ugly sounding word in a language I didn't recognize—though somewhere deep in my core, I knew it from… somewhere. As he spoke it, he cast his hand out at father, and then at the rest of us. All around me, my parents and my sisters all went stiff and dropped to the floor like flies, frozen, paralyzed. Only I remained untouched by the spell, unarmed, undefended, completely in the open with no hope of shelter or rescue, and terrified. Only one though occurred to me:

_Run_.

I turned and tried to escape, but he caught me in what seemed like an instant and hauled me off, dragging me kicking and screaming toward his quarters. I screamed for help, for my father, for anyone who might be nearby to hear. But I went unanswered. I was alone. With _him_. I was almost certain that I was about to die.

That assumption was misplaced, though not far off.

He shut the door behind us, and flung me onto his bed while he barred the door shut. I had never been in his room before—it was his and Mu's, and they warned me never to go in there. Bad enough he had dragged me there and trapped me alone with him, his room made me uncomfortable. The bed was thick and warm, everything about it soft, bright and luxurious. Everything about it was too sensual. On the floor in an adjacent corner was a rug woven from colorful threads—the one mother gave to Mu on her birthday a few years ago. On the other side of the room, I was alarmed to see the corpse of a mechanical spider. I remembered when he had slain it, with the impressive sword that hung on the wall nearby. He had brought it back with him, but I had never seen what he had done with it. What he had done was arrange the front four arms into chair legs, and form the back four legs into a back rest so he could sit comfortably on the body. It was a magnificent throne, fit for the monster we now knew he was.

He turned to me with an odd look on his face, and no trace of anger. Just an intentness that filled me with even more fear. I skittered back against the wall, wishing I could just dissolve into it and disappear. He was surely about to kill me or—ew—worse…

"Alpha, please," I begged, barely more than a whisper. "Whatever you're about to do to me, don't do it. _Please_ don't!"

"I have no choice," he answered seriously, advancing on me. "I can't go hungry, now can I?"

Perhaps death would be preferable to what was going to happen…

"I didn't do anything," I insisted feebly. "I didn't do anything!"

"You're right. This isn't your fault, girl—it's your useless sister's. If she'd had the good sense not to go and get herself butchered, this wouldn't have had to happen. It's also not your fault that you're the next oldest, which is the way it must be. Damn that Mu," he growled, cracking his knuckles and neck. "Thanks to her, I have to start from scratch."

Had I been less frightened, there might have been more room for curiosity and confusion. Mu had been his mate for two years. They shared a bed. She had loved him, and I had thought that he had loved her, too. How could he suddenly hate her so much? And what could he want with me, now? I couldn't think of that much, though. Full of overwhelming fear, with nowhere to run to and no hope of escape or rescue, my whole body was paralyzed.

"This won't be long, and it won't be painful," he informed me bluntly, casting his fingers at me again. With a sinister smirk he added, "Who knows? You might like it."

There was nothing left to do but meet my fate. But nothing could have prepared me for the fate I met. He uttered another strange word in that same strange language I didn't know, but knew from somewhere. My breath caught in my chest, and I felt my mind open up, my memories lingering in the air as if they weren't even real. Then he spoke again, in words I understood clearly.

"My Pi, you know I never _really_ loved her," he insisted with a more genuine smile. "I had to play along with her, keep her amused… Until I could have you. _You_ are the one I love, Pi. It is _you_ I want for my mate, and my priestess. I need you. I love you. I can't survive without you. Pi, don't you love me, too?"

And just like that, all the fear and confusion of the previous moments melted away. Everything I knew to be true wasn't real anymore. It had never happened. It didn't exist. Suddenly, it was just me and him, him and me, _us_, forever.

By all the powers… How I loved this handsome young man.

He came and sat down beside me, took my hand, and raised it to his lips. "How are you feeling now?" he asked.

"Different," I answered, searching myself. "But I feel… good. Very good."

"As it should be, my love," he smiled, pulling me close. It felt so natural, as if this was the way it had always been. Then his face turned serious. "Pi, we have work to do. You know what I mean, right?"

At first, no… But then I realized that yes, I knew exactly what he meant, somehow. "Mu never brought you back a sacrifice! You must be starving! What shall I do?"

He caressed my face and decided, "You're in no state to go out on your own yet. I will make this easy for both of us. Instead of having to spend days searching in the wilderness, why not use what we have around our home?"

"I don't understand. What do we have around our home?"

His eyes were grave. "Your father spoke back to me, Pi. He blamed _me_ for your sister's death, and he had the nerve to push me. _Me_! He must be punished."

I wasn't worried or concerned at all, merely puzzled. "…He _is_ my father. It would be a shame, Alpha."

"All the more fitting for your first sacrifice, my dear. Your _first_ sacrifice. Is that not exciting?"

"Oh. I suppose it is," I agreed blankly, still not sure how I felt about this.

"He has been in my way for years, always battling against me, always talking back to me. His errors are too many to count. His fate is long overdue. Who better to deliver it than his own daughter, who is protecting him and everyone else from himself? You would be doing us all a service. And besides, I've already made my decision."

Well, if he had made the decision, that was it. And it must have been the best decision that could be made. So I took heart in that, and gave him an optimistic smile. "Alright, then. I'll do it. Shall we go now?"

He lowered his head to my shoulder and began to gently, sweetly kiss my neck. It was so warm, it felt like my whole body was on fire. But it was so pleasant. If I could have died in that blaze, I wouldn't have minded.

"There's no rush," he whispered in my ear. "Mu can never stand in our way again. Now is our time, and it begins right now."

And to that, I had no complaints. He was a capable, clever, beautiful man, who deserved to be our leader. And he was mine. He was _my_ mate now. How could I refuse?

An hour or so later when we emerged from _our_ quarters, I confidently carried our clan's precious talisman. I knew what had to be done, and it wasn't what I would have designed; but if it was for the greater good—if Alpha deemed it a worthy cause—then I was at peace with it. My family had reanimated while we had been busy, for the floor was empty. Alpha put a protective hand on my shoulder and stopped me. He looked around suspiciously, waiting for an ambush.

"That Epsilon is up to something, as usual…" he muttered.

He suddenly shoved me to the ground and jumped away, as my father's short hoplite sword sliced through air where we had been standing. Father had darted out of a shadow, sword in hand, and aimed for Alpha's head. I looked up to see my mate simmering with rage, as he flung his fingers toward my father, uttering a spell. But father was quicker, and leapt for cover before the spell could catch him.

While this continued, churning into an epic battle, I scurried out of the way. There was no way I could be of use in this perilous moment. All I could do now was protect the talisman, and wait for my own moment of use. I looked past their battle, looking for my mother and sisters, and finally spotted them on the other side of the garage. Mother spotted me, as well, and a look of relief came over her face. She urgently beckoned me to get up and run to her. But I shook my head in response. I didn't need her support or shelter anymore. I had Alpha now, and I had to stand by him and help him.

Mother looked confused, disappointed, and very worried. I suddenly couldn't understand why.

My poor, aging father couldn't hope to outrun Alpha's spells forever. In the barest fraction of a second, his movement slowed just enough that my mate's well-placed spell hit him full-on. He froze in mid-step, and his hourglass shaped sword fell from his hand as he toppled to the ground in a twitching heap. Alpha loomed triumphantly over him. I suddenly got the feeling that my moment had finally come, so I rose to my feet and calmly walked to join him.

"Oh, Alpha, that was amazing," I sighed, completely in awe of his abilities. He smiled back, thoroughly amused. He stepped back with a bow and a grand gesture.

"After you, my dear priestess," he said.

I looked at my father's face as he watched us, and as I stood over him and began the sequence that would suck out his soul. He was frightened, but not for himself. It was for me. What was I doing? What had that maniac done to me? Why was I doing this? _Why_?

"I am sorry, father," I said regretfully. "But I think we both know that this was the only way it could ever be."

As I pressed the second button, I heard mother yell, "Pi, stop! What's gotten into you?"

I looked up at her and shrugged. "I'm sorry to you as well, mother. It has to be done. I can't help that."

"No, Pi, no! You don't have to do this! _Please_ don't do this!"

I chose to block her out after that. I pressed the third button and aimed it at my father's head.

"Goodbye, father."

The beam of glowing green energy that followed nearly knocked me off my feet. But I held my ground, determined to fulfill my duty to my hungry mate. The connection broke, and the energy retreated into the talisman with a lightning-like snap, I found myself shaking. I had killed my own father. And I really didn't mind it.

I turned to Alpha and handed him the talisman, now heavy with what he hungered for. He grinned his appreciation, and I beamed back proudly. We chose to ignore my mother and sisters as they ran to my father's lifeless body.

"Excellent work, my darling," he said with a smile. "You will serve me well, indeed."

"It's my pleasure, Alpha."

He looked down at the talisman, weighing it slowly. "Your meddling father had a substantial soul. It should hold me for a few months, at least. We will have all the time in the world together, thanks to this. You should be very proud."

"Oh, I am."

"No more doubts? No more fears?"

"None. When you made this decision, I knew that it had to be for the greater good. Of course it had to be. How could I doubt you, my love?"

"That is exactly what I want to hear. I am going to go and enjoy this," he informed me, glancing down at the talisman. "In the meantime, that body is of no use to us anymore. Put it with the rest."

Once again, that oddness of not understanding what he meant, and then realizing that I suddenly knew exactly what he meant. I went straight to gather the body, as I had been told. It was no longer my father—just the shell that had housed his soul. It wasn't special or important anymore. But my mother sat on the ground, rocking the shell back and forth maniacally, unable to see this clear truth from behind her invisible tears. But her grip was almost nonexistent, and dragging the body from her arms was no terrible feat. She moved to stop me, but I refused to hear her.

"Mother, please," I insisted gently. "This was better for us all. I know you're hurt now; but you'll come to grips with it, in time."

She stared up at me with the most brokenhearted face I had ever seen on anyone, in all five years of my life. She couldn't understand why I would do this to my own father—to my own family. The triplets stared at me in horror, Gamma and Theta hiding pitifully behind Delta as if they depended on her to rectify everything.

Instead, the little prophet's eyes glazed over, trapped in a vision. Behind her lavender veil she muttered, "The spider… The curse… The kiss… Freedom…"

I had no idea what she meant, and no time to find out. I had a chore to complete. Without a soul to fill it, father's body was very light now; one of the girls could have carried it easily. I picked it up in my arms and walked away toward my new quarters, leaving my family behind.

Alpha sat like a king on his spider throne, his chest wide open, with the talisman attached to a fixture in his wiring. He appeared to be enjoying his meal immensely, as the energy of the soul within slowly flowed into him, strengthening him, filling him and slaking his starvation.

"You know what to do with that," he commented with a smile.

I nodded. I most certainly knew what to do with the body. I walked over to the rug in the corner and slid my foot beneath it, kicking it away to reveal the deep hole underneath. Somehow, it felt like I had always know it was there and what it was for. It was very deep, a long way to the bottom. But if I looked hard enough, I could make out the vague shapes of other empty Stitchpunk bodies. All the missing from the other clans. All sacrificed to Alpha's insatiable hunger.

I instantly recognized Rosemary's green and purple form on top, the most recent sacrifice. Feeling like I finally understood everything, I let the shell of my father fall from my arms, adding it to the pile.

No one ever had to know. It was our secret.

_Ours._


	20. Atonement

Some important newses:

I may be taking an extended vacation from _Sacrificial_—just until Christmas, on account of so many things, and so many things of each thing.

Aside from the typical school stuff that I always whine about, well… Let's face it, Christmas is coming, and there is A LOT of stuff I have to do. Heck, Thanksgiving isn't even here yet, and we still have to get ready for _that_! My church choir is recording a CD. My brother and I are hosting an outrageously nerdy Hobbit party the night of the premiere next month. There is baking, and building, and crafting, and then a good deal of traveling to be done.

What's worse, there's also fic-work I have to do. I am going to gift you all with a little backstory oneshot that goes with this chapter—1 does not get to explain things here like I wanted him to; there will also be epic foreshadowing in it. There will also be another back-story fic that a young and precocious Dixie will spur to action. Both these blurbs will probably end up taking the place of an actual update during December. This chapter ends on a nice, bright note instead of a cliffhanger, for a change; and I've been looking for a good place to end for a bit so I could explain some things that are important. I promise you, a lot of stuff 1 has said all throughout this story will make SO much more sense once you read what I'm giving you this holiday season. So… Happy Advent and Merry Christmas, in advance.

In keeping with our favorite tradition, my mentor, mythweaver1 has posted some Final Fantasy Christmas fic prompts for our FFIV circle, and I've already picked two… Three. They're all good prompts, but she KNOWS how to punch my buttons. It has a bit of a deadline, so it has to take priority. No big deal. I can crank out genius relatively quickly. XD FFIV has NOTHING to do with _9_; but if you'd like to see what I come up with anyway, feel free.

However, Christmas for me does entail a lot of time sitting in the back of a car, and this year I get a solid 20 HOURS total. You shall have your _Sacrificial_, my friends.

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_Atonement_

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Pi related her story as quickly as she could, before she started crying too hard again. 7 had even dragged her rocking chair into the globe for her to sit in; the young mother said that the simple device had an almost magical ability to calm the heart and mind of whoever sat in it. Pi had found at once that this was very true. The gentle rocking soothed her mixed-up emotions, and allowed her to gather her thoughts.

She was glad that 7 understood. Of all the fifth clan, or even all the clans, of course 7 would understand.

"So," she concluded with a sigh, not daring to look up at the clan, "that's how it all started. A few months later, mother tried to free me… But that ended with me killing her, too. And that's the way it's been, these last few years. Then last winter, the third clan figured out what I was doing and tried to kill me… And that's when you found and rescued me. And… you know the rest, really."

She slowly lifted her head to see their faces, imagining most of them would be horrified. They were, in fact, as well as remorseful. Though they had kept their distance, holding their weapons at the ready just in case, even 1 and 2 had listened patiently to her long, sad tale. Now that it was done, the two brothers exchanged a sorrowful look and let their weapons drop to the floor with a pair of melancholy clangs.

For some reason, the sound of those heavy tools hitting the floor filled her with fear. She jumped up out of the chair and insisted, "I know it sounds crazy, and it's completely unbelievable, but it's the truth! I swear it!"

She was going to say more, but a pair of pale arms suddenly flung themselves around her and held her close. Once again, even if no one else in the world could believe what she had been through, 7 would. She knew exactly what that mental prison was like.

"How could anyone do something so _evil_ to a little girl?" she wondered in a low, threatening voice. She sounded like a mother lion. As she rocked the trembling girl, it occurred to Pi that all the fifth clan were like lions—a whole pride of them. They lived their lives so peacefully, naturally, until they were provoked. Then their claws came out, and their teeth barred, and their roar changed everything that had been assumed about them. She had been on the wrong side of that roar once. Today, she was relieved to be sheltered by it.

Thankfully, the rest of the clan seemed to agree with their matriarch. Pi couldn't believe her ridiculously good fortune. She had fooled them so perfectly the first time. How did they dare to believe her this time? She imagined she must have changed more drastically than she had thought. And she imagined there might be more evidence to point to, but…

_I should be dead. They've had countless chances to destroy me all day, alone; and they didn't take a single one of them. I can't decide still if they're extremely merciful, or completely insane…_

A flickering and flashing of light interrupted her thoughts, and she glanced up to see that 4 was speaking, mostly to her dad.

"_There are other clans?"_ she was asking.

"_I thought we were alone, just the nine or ten or however many there were of us,"_ 3 added.

"Indeed," 9 agreed vaguely, turning to 1, of all people, for insight. The old man fidgeted under the younger man's gaze. His brother looked at him with suspicion and mild surprise.

"1, what are you not telling us? What do you know about these other clans?"

"Er… You _didn't_ know?" 1 countered in a nervous, slightly squeaky voice. Wow, this was making him really uncomfortable. Why? As it was, he rest of the clan gasped in shock.

"There have been others all this time, and you never told us?" 7 snapped angrily.

"It was a different time, and I was a different man when it mattered," 1 insisted, waving his arms to diffuse the situation. "Of course I knew about the other four clans! And of course I didn't tell any of you people about them. Think, woman. Would I have ever just handed out information like that, all that time ago? It was _me_."

"You didn't think we'd like to know _now_?"

"We'd just come back from the dead! They were the last matter on my mind. And frankly, we've been better off without our number wandering off looking for them. Which is precisely why I never told you of them to begin with."

7 was not impressed or satisfied, and turned to her husband to do something. 9 had nothing to give her but a fuddled shrug.

"It's a simple misunderstanding, honey. It happens in any family, and he _does_ have a good point. Besides, it's not the end of the world. Now that we know, we can go find them, if we want to. Who knows? Maybe they've been looking for us all along."

Pi smiled to herself. She'd always had a feeling that 1 knew… _things_. Lots of things. But she wasn't sure what to make of 9. Even without the spell that bound her to witchcraft, she was a sharp-sensed girl. And to her sharp senses, it seemed like the fearless leader was putting on a show of being clueless. He also knew… _things_.

As he had already done a few times today, 5 swooped in and saved her from the impending long, awkward discussion. He gently pried her from his sister's arms and gathered her into his own.

"She's had a hard day already, and it's not even midday yet," he pointed out in a calm, gentle voice. "Let her lie down and rest for a bit."

"That's probably best," 7 agreed, though somewhat reluctant to let go of her. Instead, she left the smaller girl with a sympathetic squeeze on her shoulder. "Rest well, Pi. And remember, you're safe here. He can't hurt you now."

Pi appreciated that, and hoped that her very gracious hostess would turn out to be right about that. She was free, all of Alpha's bonds completely broken. He couldn't see through her eyes any longer, either. But a chill ran down her spine, anyway. He still knew where she was, who she was with, and most certainly that his spell had been broken. And her sisters—Delta, especially. What might he be doing to them, right now, while she wasn't there to defend them? And—

"5, where are you taking me?" she asked when she realized he was leading her away from the infirmary.

"After all you've been through, I think you deserve to sleep in a real bed. You can have mine; I'll sleep in one of the infirmary cots, or on the sofa or something. I'll figure something out."

"No, no, I can't do that. It's your bed," she insisted, feeling silly, like she was imposing tremendously.

"Pi, it's okay. I want you to have it."

"You'll stay with me, right?"

She was too late to stop her thoughts from flying out of her mouth. It was sudden and sounded inappropriate, but she didn't mean for it to. He made her feel so safe, so protected, so cared for. And he was so warm and snuggly. She didn't want him to leave. Even if he just sat by her side as she slept, she wanted him beside her. The very thought of him walking away made her shiver again. When she did, he held her closer and smiled.

"Of course I will."

Pi had never been in any of the actual bedrooms before; she had guessed they must vary in shape and size, and that the trappings within reflected directly on the person who lived in it. And she found this to be absolutely true of 5's room. The space was well-lit by a lamp with a light bulb and a battery, instead of primitive firelight. There wasn't much furniture or things on the floor; most of his possessions hung from pegs on the wall. Meticulously tidy, organized, functional and ingenious, just like him. Aside from the lamp, she spotted his pack by the door, ready to go at any moment, and a wooden trunk that could also be used as a chair stood against the wall.

And of course there was the bed. He steered her directly to it and pulled the blanket down for her.

"I feel like I've spent the whole day sleeping already," she fretted as she climbed in. "But suddenly, I feel exhausted."

"A lot's happened to you just now," he pointed out as he helped her get settled. "You know, when we're hurt, we make such a big deal about it—we know that if we're ever going to heal, we have to rest. We have to take some time to let our bodies heal, right?"

"Right."

He sat down beside her and held her hand in both of his. "Well, we don't like to think of it this way, but our hearts and our minds are the same way. It doesn't matter that they're locked away inside our bodies and can't be physically wounded if something is thrown at them. They get hurt, all the same. And when they do, it's still exhausting. We still need to rest and let those hurts heal. It doesn't make you weak. It doesn't make your foolish. Maybe it just makes you wise. Maybe, in the end, you'll be all the stronger for it."

That was comforting and touching and at least a thousand other things that raised her spirits. "Thank you."

"It's my dearest pleasure," he answered, and brought her delicate brass fingers to his lips. "You rest now, let your wounds heal. Take all the time you need. I'll take care of you."

Feeling like she could sleep peacefully now, with her 5 to watch over her, she let her eyes slide shut. Half asleep already, she couldn't stop the words from tumbling out.

"I love you."

She felt his hand on her cheek, and his forehead against hers.

"And I love you."

For the first time in four long years, she fell asleep with a real smile on her face.

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It could have been several days later, though it felt like no time had passed at all. Pi opened her eyes and looked around the room. The light was still on, and 5 sat nearby on the wooden trunk, sketching something on a scrap of paper. She sat up and swung her legs out of bed, but he was concentrating too hard to notice at first.

"Hi," she said brightly, and he looked up from his drawing.

"Up already?" he asked.

"And feeling much better," she agreed, stretching her arms wide. "What are you up to?"

"Come here and take a look," he said, beckoning her over. She came and looked over his shoulder to see blueprints for a bed, much like his own. Its dimensions were clearly marked, and a list of materials was piling up in the margin. Notes and ideas were neatly scattered in the other empty spaces.

"It's for you," he said. "I've been at it for about an hour now. What do you think?"

"I love it! I haven't had my own bed in years. 5, how long have I been out?"

"About three hours. Think you need a little longer?"

"Nah. Actually, I wouldn't mind walking around for a bit. And maybe some company. I while back, Alpha did free me momentarily; and in that one moment, I realized that I really missed you all. I came to know every member of this clan so well… But you never actually got to know me, did you?"

"I like to think that I did, in a way. You're not much different from what you were pretending to be, are you?"

"That _was_ who I really am, in the end. I hate it that it became nothing more than a mask. All of a sudden, I'm even sure who I am anymore. It's been a long time since I was myself."

"Then we'll figure it out together. Hey, I think my brother and sister are outside, with the baby. Want to go look?"

"Oh, I'd love to."

The last time she had seen the outside of the library, it had been winter. Snow had covered the courtyard, and there hadn't been much to see. But it was a very green summer, and now there was plenty to see. The bright June sun was warm and pleasant, and the air was thick with humidity. Living creatures were already returning, though they were only as big as bees and other small, vaguely annoying insects.

To find what they were looking for, all they had to do was follow the sound of babyish squeals and charmed parental laughter. It led them to a patch of earth that looked like it had been cultivated, where different flowers and plants had been carefully planted in rows, and were now springing up in the summer sun. There they found 9 and 7, diligently trying to teach their daughter to walk.

Dixie hadn't grown on the outside. But it was clear that on the inside, she had grown by leaps and bounds at a time.

"Ah, you're awake," 9 noticed at once. "Feeling better?"

"Much, thank you," Pi agreed with a bright smile. "How is she?" she asked nodding down at the baby.

"Oh, she's a recalcitrant little monster," 7 answered, gathering the child into her arms and kissing the top of her head. "But I suppose we bought and paid for that. In the right light, I'm actually kind of glad."

"Recalcitrant," Pi repeated as she sat down with them. "I like that."

"It's a good word,"7 agreed, trying to contain her baby as she started to fidget and struggle against her. "We'll be using it a lot for a long time to come."

"Amama," the baby chirped, pointing her little brown fist at Pi. "Amamamama!"

"Yes, sweetie, that's Pi," her mother answered gently. "You remember her, don't you?"

"I guess I'm not as scary as I was before, huh, baby?" Pi added with a sheepish smile. Dixie replied by stuffing her fist into her mouth and cooing adorably, but never taking her large, intelligent eyes off her. Her mother put her down on the grassy ground, and she crawled right up to the stranger to say hello.

"May I pick her up?" Pi asked when the baby tried to climb into her lap.

"Of course," 9 said at once. "She's not as fragile as she was before, but please handle her gently."

Happy to abide by that, she carefully scooped Dixie into her lap and sat her upright. Instead of sitting still, the baby pulled herself up and grabbed a fistful of Pi's hair. She gave a hard, painful yank and squealed in delight, while Pi yelped in pain.

"Asis, asis!" the baby cheered, looking over her shoulder to make sure her parents were paying attention. Slightly alarmed, 7 reached over and snatched her away.

"Yes, yes, your sister has hair, too, how observant you are," she agreed, prying their guest's frizzy hair out of her child's iron grip. "I'm sorry about that, Pi. Are you okay?"

"It's fine, really. She probably can't help it, I guess," she insisted, though she gently rubbed her sore scalp. "So, yeah, about the twins, huh? They look… Different than I remember. When did that happen?"

"Less than a month ago," 9 answered proudly. "They decided it was just time for a change, and we were more than able to accommodate that. Dixie will be ready for a big-girl body by her birthday. Maybe sooner."

"We've already started on the designs," 5 added beside her. "They're coming together nicely. This time, we'll have a little extra time to finish. We're all pretty excited."

"It's why we're trying so hard to get her to walk," 7 explained. "She sort of skipped walking, and decided to start climbing things instead. She's a regular little monkey."

"She's our little monkey," 9 remarked, reaching over and tickling his baby's tummy until she laughed. It sounded almost like the ringing of bells. Until she grabbed her father's finger and stuffed it unapologetically into her mouth.

"She's also a daddy's girl," 7 added, "but then, so am I."

Seeing them all together warmed Pi's tender heart through and through. They were back to their natural, peaceful state of being. Their life was a happy and fairly perfect one. The only disruption to that perfection had been when she had fallen into their lives; they would never be the same again because of her, whether for good or for ill. The fifth clan had such a big, bright, wonderful future ahead of them. Their possibilities were boundless.

She hated to disrupt that happiness again, but she couldn't keep them in the dark. A few hours ago, it was just another burden she could barely process—there were so many things that needed to be thought of, and she had been too mentally and emotionally exhausted to do it. But now that 5 had made her rest, she could see to those concerns with clarity.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "9, 7, you've been so gracious to me… But all I have to repay you with is some very bad news, and I have a favor I need to ask of you, if it's alright."

The two exchanged a wary look, but 9 turned back to her and answered, "Well, bad news first, then."

Unable to face him, she looked down at the grass and explained, "The spell's been broken, and Alpha knows it better than we do. And he knows where I am, and the way to get here. He's going to come here, eventually. Maybe tonight, maybe next week, I don't know. But he _will_ come for me. After all you've done for me, I can't sit idly by and watch you all get caught in the crossfire. If anyone is, I don't know what he'll do to you."

"What are you saying, Pi?"

"I don't think I should stay here. I can't—"

"You most certainly can," 7 interrupted, holding up her hand. "I don't think my brother's gone through all of this to free you, just to watch you walk off alone into certain danger."

"She's right," 5 agreed, putting his arm protectively around her. "I'm not letting you go that easily. Don't worry, we'll figure something out. I'm not going to let him get to you without a fight. None of us are."

She hoped they were right about that. She also had no trouble trusting them. She snuggled appreciatively into his embrace, feeling safer already.

"What favor do you need from us?" he asked.

"My sisters," she answered. "They're still alone with him. And he's always planned for Delta to take my place, if anything ever happened to me. I need to go back and get them away from him, before he does anything… permanent to them. But I could use your help."

The three of them nodded slowly in agreement.

"Sounds like a worthy cause to me. And nothing we're not particularly used to," 7 commented to her husband.

"Absolutely. Pi, if you'll show us where they are on a map, maybe we can even make plans to leave in the morning," he decided. Pi felt her heart leap for joy.

"Tomorrow morning? Really?"

"I don't see why not. If they're in trouble _now_, then we should go _now_. We can't just leave them to their fate."

Pi couldn't contain herself. All her reservations fell away, and she glommed onto her new leader. She felt another wave of tears well up, but she couldn't care less about them.

"Thank you," she whispered into his shoulder. "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! You don't know what this means to me…"

He hugged her back, patting her good naturedly on the shoulder. "Maybe I do, sort of. Hey, look at me," he said, holding her back a bit. "You're one of us now. All your sisters are too, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not leaving three of our own in danger like this. We _are_ going to save them."

All she could do was sit and stare at him with wide, starry eyes. Her life had just turned on its head and completely changed directions. She simply couldn't believe it.

"We haven't been a family in years," she commented quietly.

"Well, you're ours now. All of you. And we're happy to have you."

"…Are you really?"

"It's already been decided on. Trust me, Pi—we will take care of everything. Together."

The remainder of the afternoon was spent in very pleasant conversation about normal things. The weather, the baby, the goings on of the family, and the sorts of accommodations Pi's sisters might like when they were brought to their new home. She was happy to tell them about her sisters. Delta was a quiet and somewhat superstitious child, but would probably find a very good friend in 6, her fellow prophet; they had so much in common, already. Gamma loved art of all kinds, but was especially fond of making music with any cobbled-together instrument she could design; she had even made a reed pipe and taught herself to play it beautifully. And even though she was the shiest and quietest of the three, Theta had a glorious singing voice and would often sing along when Gamma played one of her instruments. Pi had a feeling they would get along well with the twins, and that 2 would enjoy their curiosity and creativity to no end.

"They'll be very happy here, surrounded by all this knowledge and love," she concluded. "It's so much more than what our creator left us with."

A while later when the sun began to set and they all went inside for the day, they took her into the globe to look at some maps.

"I made some of these myself," 5 commented proudly.

The ones he pointed to sure looked like his work. Each line, point, and minute detail was carefully, perfectly placed. Once again, meticulous—perhaps to the point of obsession. But she could immediately appreciate his attention, because she quickly traced her steps and found where her garage was located.

"It's in this neighborhood," she announced, pointing at a looped line that represented a cul-de-sac. She recognized it at once. "Here, in the middle somewhere. It's one of the only buildings still standing. You can't miss it."

"That isn't a long journey," 9 said thoughtfully. "Only a few hours, if we walked quickly. Is there anything else we should know?"

"There's a magical barrier surrounding it, but it's only meant for protection against harm. Maybe… I think that's why Alpha never leaves. If he goes outside the barrier, maybe he can't get back in. But it won't stop you."

"What happens when we get there? If we took your sisters and ran, would he peruse us, then?"

"…He might. I'm not sure what he would do."

7 nodded her head decidedly. "Weapons, then," she said solidly, and handed her baby over to her husband. "I'll go see what I can put together. We have a substantial arsenal upstairs, so I doubt it will take long. 8 should be on first watch by now; is there anything I should tell him, Pi?"

She hesitated. 8 was very big and strong, and very intimidating, but he wasn't the brightest. She wasn't sure if there was anything the giant could effectively do against her former master, if he did come.

"Tell him to be very careful," she finally advised. "If he does see anything, he shouldn't try to attack, or sound any kind of alarm—Alpha would know he's been seen, and strike harder and faster. If 8 does see something, he should just come down and tell us, himself, as quickly and quietly as he can."

"I'll let him know. Thanks." Then she sprinted out of the globe like a lightning bolt and was gone. With that business taken care of, Pi looked around and noticed a strange picture tacked to the wall. It was a penned ink drawing of a shadow she knew entirely too well.

"That's Alpha," she exclaimed. "Who drew that?"

"6 did, this morning. He draws the things he sees for us, so we can interpret it," 9 explained cautiously. "When he held your hand before, this was what he saw. He had done something like this in January, as well. Do you think you can tell us more?"

"That looks like his spider," she answered. "He killed a mechanical one many years ago, and now he uses it for a throne. He used to brag about it being enchanted, and that he could make it walk around. That he could even ride it. You don't think this is really going to happen, do you?"

The two brothers regarded her, and then the picture warily. She knew they were thinking her same thought in her own mind: if a Prophet had seen this, there was no way to hide from it. The prophecy was coming for them. And probably too soon.

"We need to be on our guard tonight," 9 decided at last. "This is shaping up to be… interesting. And unpleasant."

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"I don't think anyone is taking this seriously enough."

Pi was worried, in spite of all the precautions they were taking. And 5 supposed that he shouldn't blame her. Perhaps he should be as worried as she was, and he was trying to be instead of resting on his laurels. But there wasn't much more he could do. He wasn't a wizard, like the monster who was coming for her; and he wasn't much of a warrior to combat him in any way. All he could now was be himself. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could give. Besides, just being with her like this made his heart soar and his spirit sing. How could he be worried, when he was so impossibly happy?

"We're doing the best we can," he insisted, sitting on his bed beside her. "This is unlike anything we've ever faced before."

"I wish they would take this a little more seriously," she repeated, hugging her knees to her chest. "It's not as easy as stabbing a mechanical monster in its weak point. This is a living, thinking thing with a soul, and hopes and dreams… They aren't the kind of hopes and dreams we have, but he does have them. Alpha isn't a mindless animal that any warrior could just destroy. I really don't know if they understand that. Do you?"

"…I'm trying very hard. It's been a long time since we've faced a threat this great."

"And it has been a pretty long day, already."

"A lot of stuff happened today," he agreed, putting his arm around her and pulling her close. "Don't worry, honey, the day's almost done. When the morning comes, we'll start our first adventure together."

She smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling in the light. "Hey, you just called me honey."

"Oh… did I?"

"Yes, you did!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"I like that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."

A moment of brief, pleasant silence passed, and he found himself staring right into her eyes without feeling awkward at all. And she let him. In fact, he realized she was staring right into his one sharp eye, the single, straight and narrow path to his very soul. He took her hands in his, and let his forehead rest against hers.

"Pi, I had thought about what you said earlier. That you almost don't know who you are anymore."

"You said we could find out together."

"I haven't been myself, either. I've lost track of who I really am, as well."

"Then we'll find out who you are, too."

"No, not just me. Not just you. This isn't about either one of us alone anymore. Now it's about…"

"…Us."

"That's right. Together, we'll find out who _we_ are."

Her eyes were so wide and wondrous. For a long moment, she sat in silence, at a loss for words, still staring into his soul. Maybe that was where she found her voice again.

"5… What was it like when you kissed me?"

In a slow, gentle motion he found he had no control over, he brought his hand up to caress her sweet face. He couldn't believe this was really happening.

"I'll show you."

He had thought that the first kiss—the one that had freed her—had been the most pure and perfect thing in the world. But this one managed to surpass it immeasurably. This time, they were truly sharing something amazing. It felt like they fit together perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle. As if, by some cosmic miracle, they had been tailor-made for one another.

He found her warm body pressed against his chest, and felt her heart pounding against his until his metal veins began to boil—so intense, almost painful, but overwhelmingly pleasant. He found her slender, rosy arms around his waist, her hands running smoothly over his numbered back, holding him all the closer. He found his fingers buried in her yellow hair, so tangled he wondered if he'd ever be able to get out. They were so close. It was too perfect for words.

She suddenly pulled away, and grabbed his hands with a mischievous smile.

"Now let me show you something," she teased, and hauled him into bed with her. He instantly got the idea of where this was going, but had no idea how to get there; she sure seemed to, though, so he let her take over. She pulled him down against her, trapped him between her willowy legs and in her inescapable embrace. It was an odd place to be, but it felt natural, somehow. There was no place in the world he could think of he would rather be.

She brought her hand to the first of his buttons, her delicate fingers feeling for the button hole beneath. This time, the feeling was so intense it was a little frightening. A moment of clarity suddenly smacked him in the face. By the powers, this was _actually_ happening! He jerked back a bit, breathing hard, suddenly very unsure of himself.

"I've never done this before," he gasped, feeling like a dunce and klutz.

"It's alright," she insisted, pulling him back. "It's easy."

"What if I'm not good enough?"

"You will be," she answered. "You'll be amazing. Trust me."

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Author's Notes…

For you, Thom, this is as M-rated as it's going to get. Sorry, everyone, but the guy's got a point or two. And I do try to write to appeal to _all_ the fans. ;D

Of course, the story does NOT end here. But we will leave it here on this rather happy note for now. I'll get back to you with updates… Eventually.

LOVE YOU ALL! HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 8D


	21. Taken

WHABAM! I told you I'd be back after Christmas! XD

Also, if anyone has figured out yet WHY it is hilarious that 9 calls Dixie his "precious girl", I'll probably have to send you a virtual present on Deviant Art. XP I've scattered so many Easter eggs throughout this story… Well, _so many_ is kind of a stretch. But this egg is my FAVORITE one, and no one seems to have noticed it yet.

Just a bit of light-hearted banter before this chapter, considering it is ominously entitled…

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_Taken_

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It wasn't terribly late at night yet, but it was certainly bedtime. 7 had already rocked her baby to sleep, and laid her down in the crib—hopefully for the night. After watching her child slumber for a while, she had climbed into bed, herself. 9 had gone off hours ago for his turn on watch, but she didn't expect him back any time soon. Not with so much danger to be watched for. So while she missed his warmth and presence beside her, she felt completely safe.

It must have been about midnight, though, when she was suddenly woken by the sound of the door opening and closing. Only half awake, she sat up a bit to see that her husband had returned, after all.

"You're back early," she teased.

"It's 8's fault," he answered quietly, as he climbed into bed. "He said that if I didn't go to bed and get some sleep, he'd punch me in the face."

"Did you see anything out there?"

"No. It's quiet tonight. Do you think we just got lucky this time?"

She sighed and lay back down. "We rarely do…"

She felt his arm slide around her waist, and he snuggled close to her. "I should get a little sleep, I guess. In any case, we have quite an adventure when we wake up. I love you."

"And I love you," she agreed. With that, she was asleep once again.

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In another part of the library, 6 was startled awake from a restless sleep. The Voice was whispering to him again, and he dare not ignore it.

_The shadow is coming. It will be here soon, and it will cause pain and destruction when it arrives. It believes that this attack will bring peace to its rule. In truth, by dawn tomorrow, it will be utterly doomed. There is nothing to be done this night; it cannot be stopped. And it must be so, or the numerous Lost will remain so forever. Ponder these things, and keep faith, but tell no one. The sun will rise, and the day will be new, indeed._

At least the Voice hadn't told him to remain clam. He jumped out of the bed he secretly shared with 4 now, and began to pace in distress. He wanted nothing more than to run to one of his brothers and give them some kind of warning. If the Shadow was coming, how could he not tell someone?

"_6? What's the matter?"_

He turned to see 4 sitting up in bed, looking at him with concern in her eyes. He wished he could tell her what was troubling him, but…

"Bad dream," he excused quietly. Not entirely a lie, he supposed. She held out a sympathetic hand to him.

"_Come and lie down. I'll make it better."_

Well, as long as he couldn't do or say anything about it, he could at least try to go back to sleep. And he had found that his girlfriend's embrace was just as soothing as his sister's. It calmed his raging mind like a balm. Maybe he could sleep a while longer, despite the looming danger.

Apparently, there was nothing else to be done…

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In spite of what had happened that morning, Alpha was pleased with himself. He had never particularly left the garage, when there had been a mindlessly devoted priestess to hunt for him. But tonight, he was actually hunting for himself. The journey had been a quick and easy one, atop his eight-legged mechanical steed. It was a three or four hour trip on foot; his spider covered the same distance in a fraction of the time.

And now he stood just outside the library gate, sizing up the building's meager defenses. There was a fire glowing in a window on the second floor—a watchtower, and a guard. But it was dark, and there were many shadows along the walls of the courtyard. Whoever was on watch wouldn't see him, as he rode toward the entrance. If the guard was observant or clever enough to see him, it would be too late.

He would take back what was rightfully his. He would strike quickly, and mercilessly. The fifth clan would pay dearly for heisting his priestess, with one of their own lives. And he knew just the one to take…

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The imminent threat of attack by a dark wizard had left the library under a tense silence. There were few things that 1 liked more than a good silence; there were few things that 2 liked less. It kept both brothers from sleeping at all, and so they sat awake in the common room, weapons at the ready. Just in case.

"If the girl is right about everything," 1 commented uneasily, "I doubt that a blow to the head will do much good against him."

"There isn't much more we can do," his brother pointed out. "But we have to try, at least. I refuse not to try."

"Yes, you would."

A long time passed in that tense silence as they waited, and listened carefully for something to break it. Then all at once, something skittered around out in the building, near the common room. 2 jumped to his feet, spear in hand, and walked cautiously toward the door.1 suddenly felt a surge of panic, and ran to stop him.

"Don't' go out there, you fool!" he hissed. "Who knows what that could be? The last time there were ominous noises in this building, it turned out to be you!"

True to form, 2 shrugged him off and answered, "I have to see. It could be one of ours."

"Our own don't make noises like that when lurking about," 1 muttered fearfully, as 2 stuck his head out the door. But he didn't seem to see anything.

"Hello?" he called into the darkness, and stepped a little farther out into the darkness. "Is someone there?"

1 gripped his hammer in a death grip, terrified that something wretched would jump out of the shadow and bite his brother's head clean off. But finally, 2 stepped back into the light and sighed in relief.

"I don't' see anything."

No sooner had he spoken, a pair of horrifying red eyes appeared in the dark, right outside the door. 1 gasped in terror and leaped back, dropping his hammer on the floor. Before 2 could react, a hand of black metal reached out of the darkness and caught him by the shoulder.

"Found you."

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7 was slightly peeved to be woken again, this time by Dixie. The baby was wailing angrily, demanding attention; though whatever she might need so late at night was hard to determine. When 9 moved to get up, 7 stopped him.

"No, no, I've got this one," she insisted as she climbed out of bed.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"You spent seven hours on watch while we slept," she pointed out as she scooped her baby out of the crib. "Now it's your turn to sleep."

He didn't argue with that and fell back into his pillow without another word. In the meantime, 7 began to hum quietly to her child, as she walked back to her rocking chair. Once she sat down, she adjusted her catch so that Dixie could nurse; when her mouth was full, she quieted down considerably. But she went on whimpering sadly.

"Aw, did you have a bad dream, my little love?" she asked. "You seem scared. It's okay, mommy's here. Mommy will take care of you, sweetie."

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At the same time, Pi felt her senses snap to attention, and her eyes flew open. She sat up straight, training her senses on everything around her. The air was filled with a nauseating buzz that she knew all too well. Somewhere very close by, someone had used dark magic.

"Oh no…"

Beside her, 5 sat up a bit and yawned. "What's the matter?" he asked sleepily.

"He's here," she whispered fearfully, beginning to shake, and clutched his hand. "He's _here_, in the library!"

All traces of sleep fell from his face, replaced by the same terror, as he sat up and snatched her into that safe, defensive embrace that she loved so much. She buried her face in his shoulder, soaking up his warmth, knowing he couldn't shield her for much longer.

"What are we going to do…?" he wondered, mostly to himself as he tried to devise a plan. _Any_ plan.

"There's nothing we can do now," she lamented. "We can't hope to stop him! He's too strong."

5 squeezed her gently, still thinking… And then he sighed heavily, leaving a soft kiss on her check.

"Then all we can do is try," he decided. He jumped out of bed and switched on the light, grabbing his crossbow from the wall and loading it with a newly made arrow. Pi felt her heart constrict—there was no way he could fend off the dark magician with brute force. She ran to him and caught him by the arm.

"5, no! If you get in the way of this, he'll kill you! There's nothing you can do to stop him now…"

"Then I can say I died fighting for something," he answered evenly. "After all this time, I'm not letting go of you without a fight. "

"You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do," he insisted, taking her hand. "You're worth fighting for—if not for life, for love."

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Alpha staked down the dark hallway, following the scent of fear in the air. It vibrated intensely all around him, growing stronger and stronger as he drew closer. Of course, delicate Pi would have felt his presence, and now she was frightened. And she knew good and well that there was nothing she could do about it. Her soul would be just the right kind of strong for the taking. And so would be the soul of the one who had freed her.

He followed the hallway to where a light shone through a closed door—the delicious smell of fear was strongest there, and he couldn't help a cruel grin. It made him hungrier than ever. He shoved the door open and… Was slightly surprised to see the one-eyed idiot standing to face him, armed with a crossbow, not looking terribly afraid at all. And then there was Pi, trembling in abject terror behind him.

"Back off," 5 snarled, his finger moving to squeeze the trigger.

Alpha answered with a slightly amused chuckle, and cast his fingers at them both. "Be silent."

The spell hit them both with full force, even though it had been spoken in English instead of the mother tongue. They immediately froze, and 5 dropped his pathetic weapon as they fell to the floor, paralyzed.

Alpha walked over to stand above his failed enemy, glad that his one eye was facing him. "You didn't _really_ think you could be rid of me that easily? The elder was right: you are a fool, of the worst sort. I'm going to enjoy the taste of your soul."

Once again to his surprise, 5 didn't remain still. He was struggling, enraged, against the effects of the spell. So there was strength in him, after all. All the more to—

His train of thought was interrupted suddenly, by the shrill cry of a baby nearby. He raised his head to listen, a new and better idea forming in his mind.

"Hm…"

He looked back down at his victims and gave them a sly smile.

"Never mind all that talk, 5; I'll spare you today. There's been, shall we say… A change in plan."

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This time, 9 couldn't be content to stay in bed. Not while his precious girl was in such apparent distress. He sat up, just as 7 sank back into the rocking chair with an annoyed sigh.

"Oh, I thought you were going back to sleep," she mumbled to Dixie, who had burst into fearful screaming again, flailing around angrily as if to escape from something. "I wish she could tell me what's wrong. What could be upsetting her so?"

9 couldn't imagine what it might be, either; mostly because he was only half awake, and what part of it was awake was taken over by the crying of his child. He climbed somewhat wearily to his feet, stumbled the few steps to the rocking chair, and knelt on one knee before them. He reached up for Dixie's small, soft hand, and just held it firmly, comfortingly in his own.

"You see, sweetie?" 7 said softly, like the coo of a mother dove. "Daddy's also here with you. You don't have to be afraid, while he's here to keep you safe. Your daddy loves you so much, he would never let anything bad touch you, would he?"

"That's right," he agreed, giving the child a reassuring smile. "There's nothing I wouldn't protect you from. And mommy will also protect you. We love you so much that we gave you life, remember? Well, my precious girl, we love you so much, we'd give our own lives to keep you safe. And there's nothing that could ever change that."

Dixie didn't seem convinced; but she quieted down a bit to listen to her father's voice. Something was still bothering her badly. But what…?

As 7 began singing another song, something caught the corner of his eye. From where he was kneeling on the floor, he was the only one who would have noticed the door as it suddenly began to open, as if one its own. And then standing there outside was a shape—a shadow in the dark. And a pair of glowing red eyes.

"Be silent."

It could only be one thing in the world. He thought to jump up and shield his wife and child, maybe even tackle the monster to the ground—anything, to keep it away from them. But he felt his being stiffen, and a cry of alarm freeze in his throat. It felt like his heart even stopped for half a second. Panic and anger filled him, and he tried desperately to fight the paralysis, only to fall over in a clumsy, twitching heap. Above him, Dixie had fallen completely silent, and 7 made no move to get up and run. The spell had paralyzed them, as well.

Now there was nothing stopping Alpha from sidling across the room to them. Without any control over her body, 7 couldn't stop Dixie from slowly slipping out of her arms, toward the floor below. But the shadow swooped down and scooped the baby into his own arms before she could fall.

9 couldn't decide what was worse: letting her hit the floor and be hurt, or having the monster catch her. Alpha regarded the child for a moment, and then turned to 7 with a cruel sneer.

"Such an unfit mother, dropping her only child," he chided. "If you can't take care of her, then I suppose I'll just have to take her, won't I?"

7 was also struggling against the paralysis, but all she accomplished were a few useless twitches. While she couldn't defend herself, Alpha leaned over her, reached down and touched her face. She gasped in fear at his poisonous touch, and he smiled vaguely.

"The rumors were true, after all," he mused. "You truly are the most beautiful of our small race. It's unfair, really, that one man would have the nerve to lock such beauty away, all to himself. A better man would know to share."

Taking his child was bad enough; daring to touch his wife was the very last straw. 9 finally felt his fingers manage to twitch significantly. A small victory, which Alpha reward by stomping as hard as he could on his hand. Pain surged up his arm, and warranted a scream that was frozen as the rest of him.

"You fifth clan are stronger than the others," Alpha growled, unimpressed. "I've never known a man to fight as successfully against my magic as you. But then, perhaps, so much the better." His sharp metal foot still planted firmly on 9's throbbing hand, he knelt down and grinned.

"This is incredible work you've done," he commented, admiring Dixie's small, still form. "She is perfect—a true masterpiece. I doubt you could ever create anything this perfect again. Her soul is strong, like yours, and so concentrated. Unspoiled, and unmolded. Oh, she knows that she's loved; and she doesn't have the sense to know how to love in return. I've never seen a specimen so intact, in all my life.

"You know, they say that it's only right, to render your very best unto your god for proper sacrifice. And I must say, 9, I am very flattered that you would save this for me. I may never need to hunt your clan again. Perhaps I'll reward your noble sacrifice, and just leave you with this, hm? Loose the one, save the others? It would be a shame to repeat the past, after we've already learned so much from it."

With that, he rose and turned to leave with Dixie held securely to his chest. It was entirely too much, to be unable to stop this. To do nothing but lie motionless, helpless, as the monster stalked away in complete triumph.

If only the paralysis would wear off…

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The spider waited motionless for its master's command, at the end of the hall with Pi cradled limply in its front-most claws. And Alpha returned to it with his compensation prize cradled in his own arms. Not bad, for his first solo hunt. He had to admit, he wasn't surprised it had gone so well. He mounted it effortlessly, and it rose to its full height, awaiting the command to turn and leave the library.

"Not bad, for an hour and a half's work," he commented. "Come along, my dear, let us return home. And don't drop my sacrifice."

As his steed skittered out of the courtyard and into the night, Alpha looked down at Dixie and tried not to be too perplexed by her twitching. They were a strange bunch, the fifth clan; how were they able to fight so successfully against his spell? Already, the baby was wriggling free of its hold, and her little voice was starting to squeak out in chirps of confusion and distress.

"Now, now, be silent," he insisted, casting his spell back over her. "At dawn today, this will all be nothing more than a bad dream."

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Having only one eye had had its advantages in the past. Mind traps had never affected 5 for as long as they did others. Already, he felt the paralysis wearing off; he was slowly taking back control of his fingers and arms, and wishing the rest of his body would hurry up and follow suit.

Because overwhelmingly more than fear, he felt rage. And that rage was certainly laced with fear, but little of it was for himself—most of it was for Pi, and what would happen to her if he couldn't get up and find her. Soon. And what of the others? Where were they? Had Alpha found them and ensnared them, as well? Did anyone even know what had happened?

As if in answer to his frantic wonderings, a new figure appeared in his doorway. To his joy, it was 6, who looked as if he had run all the way there.

"Oh," he sighed sadly. He came and knelt by his brother, and clapped his hands loudly three times. As suddenly as it had overtaken him, the paralysis melted away completely and he gasped in surprise.

"6, how did you…?"

"The Voice said to."

Never mind that. He sat up and grabbed his little brother by the shoulders. "6, he was here! Alpha was _here_!"

"He took Pi… And 10…"

"Where is everyone?"

"Stuck."

Of course. 5 bowed his head in despair. "It should have been me. It's not right…"

"Yes, it is," 6 insisted hopefully. "Now you will save them."

"…Do you think so?"

"I know."

The prophet was correct, as usual. This was no time to lose hope. Not when he could move again, and there was work to be done. He grabbed his crossbow from the floor and jumped up to grab his pack.

"Help the others," he instructed. "I'm going to the globe to get some things. Tell 9 and 7 to meet me at the door, ready for a journey and lots of danger."

When he ran into the globe, he wasn't entirely surprised to find a few candles lit, and the twins pacing anxiously in the dim light, as soon as she saw him, 4 darted up to him and threw her arms around his waist.

"_6 said that the monster was just here,"_ she flickered tearfully. _"He said that __thing_ _took our sister! Is it true? 5, please tell me it's not true!"_

"I'm afraid it is," he answered, hugging her back.

"_And he took Pi, didn't he?"_ 3 guessed uneasily. _"You're going to rescue them, aren't you?"_

"_6 isn't trying to go with you, is he? Is he okay? Did the monster—"_

"He's fine, he's fine. And he's staying right here, I promise. This is something your folks and I have to do ourselves."

"_Will you be alright on your own?"_

"Maybe… I don't know. But I need my maps, and the weapons we left here last night. And I need the talisman. Where is it?"

"_I'll go get it_," 3 offered at once and skittered off, happy to be of use. 9 never kept the talisman on his person—the first place an enemy would think to look for it. Instead, he left it hidden in the globe, under the twin's guard. Only the three of them knew where it was hidden; and frankly, it was probably best that way. For himself, 5 had absolutely no desire to know where the thing was kept.

While he went to gather the things he needed, 4 sat down and wrapped her arms around herself. _"It was here,"_ she commented. _"It was here, and he knew it. He had seemed upset earlier; he said it was just a bad dream. But he knew it was here—he __must__ have! Why didn't he try to tell anyone? Why wouldn't he tell me…?"_

"6 has his own reasons for doing things," 5 reminded her as gently as he could. "It's probably for the best. It always is.4, honey, look at me, please."

She raised her head and looked at him with a lost, forlorn look on her face. She sat up straight and pushed her loose hair out of her eyes, ready to listen.

"This is the way he's always been; we all know that. And it's something we simply have to accept." He came put laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, not sure if there was a gentler way to say what had to be said.

"If you love him—_really_ love him—you have to learn to trust him as more than just an unusual means of information, like the rest of us do. That's easy enough to do; it gives us an excuse to be a little angry, if we don't understand. But you need to trust more than anyone else, that he knows what he's doing, and that he's only doing it that way because he's trying to take care of you. It's a difficult leap of faith, I know; but it's something you just have to do."

"_That's a little scary."_

"I know it is. And we all make mistakes, especially when we're learning. Love isn't easy, 4. It takes work, and patience, and a lot of… Well, sacrifice. Sacrifice of time, wants and needs, even safety. Look at everything that 9 and 7 have sacrificed—for each other, for you and your brother, you sister, for all of us. That's love. That's what it looks like, in its truest form. That's what makes it so beautiful. If it were easy and comfortable all the time, it wouldn't be strong enough to break through Alpha's magic. It wouldn't matter anymore."

While she paused on contemplated this, 3 skittered back into the light with the talisman in hand, wrapped in a scrap of cloth. It could have been anything, really.

"_Good luck,"_ he flickered, handing the parcel over to his uncle. _"The three of you are going to do great, I know it."_

"_That fiend probably can't do anything to stop you,"_ 4 agreed, standing to join her brother. _"Not you and all your love. You're right about everything. Thank you."_

5 only stayed a few seconds longer, to hug and kiss them goodbye, and he hoped it wouldn't be the last time he would get to see them. Then he ran off for the entrance, certain that his own brother and sister would be waiting impatiently for him to join them. The thought that their beloved little Dixie, who hadn't done anything to deserve any of this, was somewhere in the clutches of a monster like Alpha made his nonexistent blood boil. He couldn't imagine what her parents might be feeling…

He came upon them silently and found them in tight, fearful embrace, but ready to go, all the same. He though briefly of giving them another minute or two, but quickly decided that they wouldn't appreciate something so frivolous, while their only child was in mortal danger. So instead, he walked right up to them.

"You took your time," 7 noted tersely when she saw him.

"I thought we could use this," he answered, handing the talisman to his brother.

"You don't think we'll have to use it, do you?" he asked as he stuffed it into his body cavity.

"I hope not…"

Outside, the air was warm and the sky was clear. The moon was only in the middle of its waxing, but cast enough light to illuminate the ruins. Of course the fates would grant them a good night for a treacherous adventure. In the night sky, the constellations of summer shone bright and clear; they silently retold the ancient tale of Perseus' quest to slay the kraken and rescue his own love, the princess Andromeda.

_I can relate to that, Perseus,_ he thought, observing the heavens. _I have a princess to save from a kraken of my own._

"Hey, 9? Didn't you say a while back that it's a big wide world? Ours for the taking? Who knows what we'll find out there and all that?"

"Oh yeah… That was a while back, wasn't it," he agreed rather sadly. "I had prepared myself to take all the terrors along with the wonders, but… By the powers, every single one of them, I had never dreamed there could be something _worse_ than the Machine lurking out there."

"What if we find something even worse than this one day?" 7 wondered quietly. It wasn't like her to fret like this, or be so afraid of the big, wide world. She had once longed for it, escaped to grab hold of it by the horns with all her youthful enthusiasm. But its dangers had stolen her treasure this night. All of a sudden, they were very real.

"If we've already stumbled into so much terror, there must be a great wonder waiting for us nearby," 5 decided, taking a page from hopeful 6's book of wisdom. "The night is far from over, yet. Looks like it's just about to begin…"

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Author's Notes…

First update of 2013, my peeps. Impressed? Horrified? Good. My work here is done.

Y'all know how 9 knows… _things_, from the last chapter? Some of those… _things_ will come to the surface next time. Also, Alpha will continue being his usual, wonderful self. Ooh, the dialogue I've just planned…! ;D


	22. The Wandering Third Clan

Viggo Mortenson is the voice of Adar, in case you haven't read my Big Book of OC's, in my profile. I loved him in _Hidalgo_; I wanted to see him play a cowboy again. XD Also, Danny Devito is the voice of Tishrei; his performance in _The Lorax_ sold me there. It's perfect!

Not included in the Big Book are Nicole Kidman, providing the voice of Kislev, (who is slightly unhinged) and Maggie Smith as Nisan. When you imagine Minerva McGonagall's voice coming out of this odd old woman, you will agree that the fit is excellent. ;D

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_The Wandering Third Clan_

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It took a good long while for the paralysis spell to wear off a strong person—an hour and a half or more. Pi had spent the dark, frightening trip across the ruins praying that it would last long enough for the spell to wear off. Maybe she could have found the right split second to make an escape and run for help. But the spider skittered along at such a speed, the distance between the library and the garage was covered in less than an hour.

And to think, it had taken her three whole days to find her way back in the snow…

There was to be no movement on her own any time soon, that much was clear. Which was odd; because she had heard Alpha re-cast the spell on Dixie a few times over the trip. Whether it wore off her faster because her tininess, or because she had inherited the amazing strength of the fifth clan, or for some other reason or a combination of them, Pi couldn't fathom. All she knew for certain was that it was getting on Alpha's nerves, and that she wished she had a similar ability to shake the spell.

The spider carried the three of them right into the garage, which had been left lit with candlelight. It seemed that Alpha had spent the afternoon preparing especially for his meal in the morning. A small cage of sticks and twine had been constructed, its door open to welcome an occupant; and she immediately got a bad feeling that it was meant for her. A jagged, broken slab of concrete had been laid beside it, covered neatly with a scrap from an old tablecloth, like a primitive altar. Their talisman sat in silence on top of the cloth, humming and filling the air with that same malevolent buzzing. As if it had a voice of its own.

Alpha called out a command to his spider in the mother tongue, which Pi found she couldn't understand anymore. The thing came to a halt, its front arms still carrying her like a hunted beast. He dismounted, and walked a few steps to place the baby on the altar.

"Don't move," he warned her, as if she could understand, and turned back to lift Pi effortlessly into his arms. He carried her to the cage, which she now saw was only big enough for her to lie down or kneel inside. He carefully stuffed her into it and shut the door, baring it shut with another stick. Walking over to a different side of the rudely crafted cube, he reached through the bars and grabbed her by the wrists, tugging her closer.

"Poor, blessed Pi," he said absently. "It's a shame, all the trouble you've come into. Seems it just comes looking for you, doesn't it? How were we to know that the fifth clan would be _this_ troublesome to us? And here, after you managed to conquer the third clan, at last, I thought we were finally a match for them."

He reached for a loose string, part of what was holding the wooden bars together, and began tying her wrist tight to the bar as he continued, "I suppose that was a slight miscalculation on my part. I keep wanting to believe that my priestess is strong and clever enough to face whatever is out there—she is an extension of myself, after all. I _want_ you girls to be perfect, as long as you are serving me. Oh, it was the same with Mu. When things couldn't have been going better for her, she goes and gets herself ripped to shreds. And by those Jaco-Punks, no less.

"And so, it seems, it has gone with you, Pi," he continued, as he tied her other wrist to the opposing bar. "Better, perhaps, if someone had let that fearful 1 take your head off, after all. Tishrei let them slaughter your sister for me. But feh—I have to kill you myself, today.

"Well… Not _myself_, per se. You need replacing, after all. And now that your use is spent, Delta is the next oldest, am I correct? Don't kid yourself, girl; this was the way it had always been planned, and you know it. Don't worry, though. I'll make sure she's spared the pain of remorse, just like you were. Delta will be nothing but happy to harvest your soul for me. You'll make a fitting appetizer, for the child to follow.

"I can't remember eating such a meal in my whole life. And I _do_ thank you for your compliance," he concluded, and rose to walk away. Pi tried and failed to lift her head to see where he was going, and hoped he wasn't going to fetch her sister. Thankfully no—he stopped short beside the altar and stomped his foot angrily.

"Be silent!" he snapped at the baby. "Damn you, be silent!"

And there was silence. Then the rustling of fabric against fabric. He had picked her up, which made Pi fell sick. If only her hands weren't tied, and if she could move, she might have killed him, herself.

"You'll spend the night toying with me like this, won't you," he hissed. "You little brat—you're worse than your father! I'll have to watch you closely all night, won't I? Fine. If your final wish is to be meddlesome, I'll be merciful and grant it. After all, how much damage could a bug-eyed, sniveling baby like _you_ really cause in a few hours?"

Another brief pause, and then the gentle creaking of the spider's metal joints as the wizard sat upon it with Dixie in his arms.

"I shall play your game, 10 of the fifth clan. And I shall win. It will be a small price to pay, for how well you will serve me. Dawn will be delicious, indeed."

2222222222

Thank goodness, the light of the half-moon cast enough light to see the map by. They had been racing through the ruins for close to an hour, and they seemed to be making pretty good time. But they were now in an unfamiliar part of the city, running in the opposite direction they usually went. They were in the middle of a small neighborhood, in the middle of a suburb near the library. Pi's garage was in another neighborhood on the other side of the suburb.

The neighborhoods winded through the city like a maze. 5 had carefully mapped them all, and knew exactly where on his map they were. But one map could only be so detailed. There were so many opportunities to take shortcuts, to slip through abandoned homes or scramble under deteriorating fences, which could save them the time of winding through the maze. It was tempting…

But out in the dark, in a strange area, with nothing but the straight lines of their only map to guide them, it could also be too easy to get lost. With so much at risk, they decided together that it wasn't worth it. Better to do it right the first time, no matter how time consuming it was, than to have to waste time backtracking later. Even though her impatience was getting the better of her, 7 had to agree to this, as well. But it was also wearing her out, as anxiety ate away at her energy and resolve. After an hour and a half of dutifully staying the course, they had to stop for a short rest.

"We're doing really well, so far," 9 assured his friends as they sat down on the curb. "We've already covered a lot of ground, and as long as we keep sticking to the map, it'll stay that way. 5, how much longer, do you think?"

5 studied the map quickly, and sighed unhappily. It didn't matter how far they'd already come—the distance that remained between them and their destination made him want to weep with frustration. "Another three and a half hours, at this pace," he answered, shaking his head. "It _is_ good time… I just wish there was a way to go faster."

Between them, 7 sighed wearily, lifting her helmet and letting her face sink into her hands, exhausted. "He took my baby," she whispered. "I can't believe he took my baby, and I couldn't do anything to stop him. Did you even see the way she looked at me…?"

5 hated to see his big sister so distraught; it was strange and awful. He wondered if he was somehow responsible for what had happened—he was sure he must be, in some way. But he kept that feeling to himself. If he said it out loud, his dear companions would only confirm what he knew in his heart to be true. None of this nightmare was his doing.

He rolled up the map and twisted around to stuff it back in his pack. Looking up and off into an adjacent house, he suddenly noticed something odd that filled him with hope. There was firelight flickering in a lower story window. Could it be…?

"Hey, guys, take a look at this."

They both looked up to see where he was pointing. When they noticed the light, they both gasped in surprise. 9 was so surprised—or perhaps alarmed—that he jumped to his feet.

"That can't be Alpha, can it? Do you think it's one of the other clans?" 7 wondered, daring to be hopeful.

Before her husband or her brother could answer, an arrow flew out of the sky and caught her helmet by its raised beak, sending it flying off her head and onto the sidewalk with a clatter. She snatched her spear from the ground and leapt to fighting stance, ready to fend off whatever was firing at them. 5 peered through the dim moonlight, looking for a target, glad that his crossbow was already loaded.

_Too bad; I was saving this arrow for Alpha's ugly face…_

"Who goes there?" a rugged voice called out, not a few yards away. It's owner moved suddenly out of a shadow, into sight. He was very dark in color, himself, and armed with an impressive longbow, so for a second they thought it was… But no. His eyes weren't glowing, and whatever his closure was, it wasn't bright enough to see in the dark. He also seemed to be wearing some kind of hat. This was certainly not the monster who had attacked them. He was a stranger. But who could he be?

The stranger crept forward a bit and asked again, "Who goes there? Who are you?"

9 made a face, squinting at the stranger… And then his face lit up. "Wait a minute. Adar? Is that you?"

The stranger suddenly lowered his bow and peered back at them. "9! What are you doing out here again?" he exclaimed, running up to meet them. "We hadn't planned on seeing you around for a good long time."

"It's a long story," 9 answered, shaking the man's hand.

"Well, it looks like you succeeded in that mission of yours, after all," Adar commented, noticing 5 and 7 behind him. "Sir, ma'am," he greeted, with a generous tip of his hat to each of them. It appeared to be a cowboy hat, salvaged from the wardrobe of a child's doll. And while it spoke silent volumes of Adar's personality, 5 was extremely confused. Beside him, his sister was already simmering.

"You know this man?" she angrily asked her husband, folding her arms defensively across her chest.

"Um… Again, it's a long story," he excused feebly, then turned right back to his friend. "That's the rest of the third clan in that house over there, isn't it?" he guessed, pointing down across the street where the fire glowed.

"Yessir, it is," Adar agreed brightly. "Best you all come and regroup with us. The clan's gonna be happy to see you again, 9; and your friends, too. It's been a long time since we've had any _good_ company…"

Adar's whole being wilted as he made that last comment, drooping in despair that he didn't want to bother them with, but was too big to be hidden. A despair that needed comfort and love to heal. 5 knew that feeling all too well; of course he would know it when he saw it. What could have caused this man such deep and terrible grief?

But the cowboy shook his head lightly and resumed his friendly smile. "Anyway, y'all follow me on back. There's always room for a few more."

2222222222

As they followed the calico-skinned stranger that 9 had called Adar, 7 wasn't certain which emotion she was plagued with the strongest. Confusion? Impatience? Fury? Betrayal? All of a sudden, her anger at the monster who had kidnaped her child was contending for priority, against her anger at her husband, of all things.

Adar seemed nice enough, and 9 was apparently more than willing to trust him; but it wasn't the man that bothered her so deeply. She couldn't get her head around it, that her own husband had known this stranger and all his people, and had never mentioned it, in any way, _ever_ to her. Now, what _else_ did he know that he hadn't shared with her?

They were married now—their first anniversary was coming up at the end of the season. They were supposed to share these sorts of things with each other. As much as it stung, she wasn't sure if she was completely _angry_ with him, yet; all she knew for sure was that she felt very, _very_ poorly about it. Perhaps even too poorly to open up to this stranger, no matter how good a host he turned out to be.

"So," Adar commented to 5, "you're the one-eyed brother my friend spoke so highly of?"

"Um, I guess I am," 5 clumsily agreed. Surely, he felt just as conflicted as his sister did. But to his stammering, Adar smiled brightly.

"9 spoke highly of you all, when he was with us last year," he recalled. "He said that five of you had been killed, and that he was on some quest to bring you all back. Some of us hadn't believed it was possible. But when our Nisan said that it was completely possible, I knew at once that he would succeed. Looks like _some_ people owe me something," he explained with a playful wink. Then he turned to look at 7, and she instantly noticed a twinkle of wonder in his eyes.

"And you're his lovely lady, of course. He spoke highest of you. In fact, he wouldn't shut up about you, if we gave him an inch."

"Mh-hm," she answered flatly. Her obvious mood only discouraged the man for a split second, and then his smile returned, knowing and a bit mischievous.

"He told us that the woman he loved was so stunning, so perfectly glorious, that even when she was mad enough to bite his head off, she was still the most beautiful creature on God's green earth. I can see now that he was right about that. You are a formidable and beautiful woman, indeed. He's lucky to have a woman like you on his arm. Lucky rascal, indeed," he concluded, giving 9 a playful punch.

"Cut it out," he insisted bashfully. Before he could go on insisting that his friend was exaggerating, 7 looked over at him with one eyebrow raised quizzically.

"You said all those things about me? Really?"

"Well, it's the truth," he answered sheepishly.

That was a little too much for her mood to stand against. Feeling mightily flattered, she gave him the barest of smiles, which she couldn't help but let grow into a grin. She was still less than pleased with him; but perhaps she would try to be understanding. The very notion made her mindset turn in the complete opposite direction. Something truly important must have happened with this third clan, for her 9 to hide them so well. That _must_ be it. Why else would he be so secretive all this time?

She hadn't realized that her husband—who she thought she knew so well—was so good at keeping secrets. _You learn something new every day,_ she decided.

Adar led them to the house where his clan was camped, and they followed him in silently, marking their surroundings as best they could. Without the help of the milky moonlight outside, it was very dark and hard to see. But their host seemed to know right where they were going. Soon he brought them around a corner and into a small dining room; across the room was an open doorway that led to the kitchen. The firelight shone quite clearly from there, accompanied by many voices.

"Whenever we come this way, we always make sure to make camp in this house," Adar explained as they walked across the floor. "It is a fine house, to be sure; but Tishrei, our elder, believes the humans who once lived here were of our people."

"_Your_ people?" 7 asked, curious in spite of herself.

"We were created by one if Israel's children," Adar answered proudly. "He was of the Hebrew nation, and so are we. We weren't the most beloved people, there at the end. But we do what we can to keep our heritage alive, until this land can sustain humankind again."

"That's what we've been doing, too," 5 agreed, trying to be friendly. "We live in a library, cataloguing and restoring old books."

"A library? That big black stone building on the other side of the suburb? You live there?"

"You know it?"

"From a distance. We were in that area, back in the wintertime; just after the new year began. I wish we had known you were there. We would have liked to see you."

7 swallowed hard, suddenly feeling a little sick. Pi had said before, that the third clan had tried—almost successfully—to kill her. That had been the night before they had found her unconscious in the snow, beaten half to death with stones.

_I had nearly forgotten about that,_ she thought, feeling uneasy. _They were probably well within their rights, she was still buried under that spell. But still…_

She had no time to ponder that further. A small streak of tan rushed up out of the dark and threw itself onto 9, tackling him to the ground with an overjoyed squeal.

"9! 9, you're back! You're alive!" cheered the voice of a little boy. "Mum said there was no way you'd survive, and she sure had Hadassah scared, but _I_ knew you could do it! I just knew it!"

9 sat up and hugged the boy right back. "It's good to see you, too, Daniel," he said in a much lower, contained voice. "Wow, look at you! Have you gotten bigger?"

"Nope, but I've got new patches," the child answered, showing off several mended cuts and different colored patches on his elbows and forearms. "Look at 'em all! I'm all daring and dangerous!"

Adar gave a short, amused laugh. "We're thinking of calling him Joseph, from now on. He'll be nothing _but_ a coat of many colors, the way he carries on."

7 wasn't as amused as the others. Her mood returned with a vengeance, and she began to tap her foot suspiciously, earning her husband's undivided attention.

"If this is yours…"

Mortified, 9 jumped right to his feet. "No, no, no, no, no! It's not like that, I swear!"

"I'm afraid that he's mine, now," Adar interjected, scooping the little boy up and planting him on his hip. "Everyone, this is Daniel. Daniel, this is some of 9's family—that's 5, his brother, and his wife, 7. Say hello."

The boy was silent for a long moment, his wide, wondrous eyes stuck on 7. "She's real pretty, Adar," he whispered shyly.

Even she had to give the child a smile. He was so adorable! But instead of smiling at Daniel's antics, 9 made an odd face.

"What do you mean, he's _yours_, now? Cheshvan's his father. Where is he?" he asked, sounding very concerned. At the mention of it, Daniel gave Adar a pitiful, baleful look.

"Yeah, uncle, where _is_ dad? If you tell them, will you tell me, too? Will you tell me now? _Please_?"

"Daniel, that's enough," Adar insisted, his being suddenly darkening. He set the boy back on his feet and said as evenly as he could, "Why don't you go find your grandfather, and tell him we have some unexpected guests?"

Daniel looked disappointed, but nodded his head excitedly, happy to be useful. He dashed off to do as he was told, leaving the four adults at a standstill in the dark.

"What was that all about?" 5 wondered nervously.

"We'll tell you as a family," Adar answered sadly, shaking his head and leading them onward. He was suddenly so upset. What on earth could have happened to these people?

Another member of the third clan met them in the doorway. It was a woman with skin of dove-gray calico, and threads of soft yellow hair in a braid down her back. She wore a light blue bandana tied around her head, which framed a lovely but very sad face.

"Oh, look who's back," she noted blankly. "We hadn't expected to see _you_ again, Bearer."

"So I heard," 9 agreed, just as blankly, and extended his hand. "How are you, Kislev?"

The woman didn't move to shake his hand; instead, her eyes darted around nervously and she changed the subject a little too quickly. "My son hasn't been so animated in months. It is good to see you alive, after all."

"Wow," 5 commented. "They really didn't have much faith in you, did they?"

"Well, in their defense, I sounded like a lunatic."

"Yes, you did," she remarked, examining her guests with a calculating eye. "And you actually succeeded? You're crazier than I thought."

Adar ended that dialogue by putting his arm around her. "My sister-in-law, Kislev," he introduced. "She's Daniel's mother." To this, she finally gave them a proud smile.

"Then… You're married to his brother?" 7 commented, quickly figuring the family tree. Before she had finished speaking, Adar hurried to hush her; but it was too late. Kislev's smile turned to an icy glare, and she began to shake a little. Without another word, she pushed her brother away and stormed off furiously.

"I should have warned you," he said, sounding exasperated. "We can't really talk about my brother, not in front of her; and not in front of the children, either. She's forbidden it, and we respect that wish. She's only trying to protect them."

"Adar…" 9 laid a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder. "What happened? What on earth happened to you?"

"Come inside, and we'll try to explain," he answered, leading them forth. "I doubt even you would believe something this fantastic."

"Try us. You might not believe some of the things that have happened to _us_, recently."

Inside the kitchen, it was shadowy from the firelight, shining from a cabinet beneath the sink. Wherever the walls weren't cast in flickering shadows, they glowed red and orange from the flame. It was also a little smoky; but the broken sink pipes provided a little ventilation for the initial shelter. The clan sat inside in relative comfort, tending the fire and seeing to their belongings. It seemed that they had just arrived and were still in the process of settling down for a while.

But at seeing their Adar return with an old friend and two strangers in tow, they all jumped up and ran to meet them. As the clan accosted them with questions and greetings and excited introductions, 7 couldn't help but notice that this family looked a lot like her own in many ways. There were men and women, girls and boys, brothers, sisters, parents, and even a giant of their own.

But she also couldn't help noticing that their number was smaller. She counted Adar, who the clan called their Bearer; Kislev and Daniel made three, and his little sister Hadassah made four; Iyar the giant woman, Adar's sister, made five; and paint-stained Av, a teenaged girl, made six. The children, she quickly learned, hadn't even been made their creator—they had been carried and born from their mother, like Dixie had been. So, technically, that only made four.

7 wasn't sure how she was suddenly so good with figuring numbers, or why she understood their importance. In any case, the third clan was clearly missing people. That was ominous. She took a moment to listen as they spoke to her husband; they seemed a little _too_ glad to see him alive.

"We really thought you were done for, kid."

"Yeah; if your mission hadn't killed you, we were scared that something… _else_ would."

"You must be some kind of clever, and very sneaky. Not to mention lucky."

Something had this clan scared to its core, and 7 bet her own life that it was something to do with Alpha and Pi. Or Mu, or whoever else he had brainwashed before. Likely, she realized with a sinking stomach, it explained why some of their clan was missing.

"Silence!" called a strong, deep voice from the cabinet. Everyone turned around to see another three people coming out to join them. The two men were definitely older in age, and looked very much alike, with heads and torsos of Adar's brown calico, and limbs of neutral blue. The tops of their heads were both capped with odd looking caps, woven from white threads, and their grizzled faces were partially hidden by long, sage-like beards. They were probably brothers, maybe even twins. The one feature to tell them apart was the purple cloak around the older brother's shoulders, and the staff he leaned rather heavily on as he walked.

The two men flanked an older woman, colored just like them; except where the men were brown, she was pure, crisp white. The threads of her black hair were long and tumbled gracefully around her face, though she wore a large shawl over her head and wrapped around her shoulders. She had a vacant sort of look on her face, a look that was strange and very familiar at the same time. And she walked on the arm of the cloaked man, regally as a queen. It appeared at once that they there married. Little Daniel trotted along at her other side, holding her hand with a cheerful smile.

Add three to the original four… That still only made seven. Two were still missing.

"Look, yaya, you were right!" the boy said to the woman, pointing to the newcomers. "He _did_ come back, just like you said!"

The woman nodded vaguely and patted Daniel on the head. Her husband broke away from her and ran to them, laughing joyously all the way. He picked 9 out of the crowd and squeezed him into a bear hug from which there was no hope of rescue.

"You bet he came back, you _bet_ he came back," the old man cheered. "Ha, we knew you couldn't stay away for too long, kid! Welcome back!"

"Tishrei, please!" 9 gasped, trying desperately to squirm out the old man's iron grip. "I can't breathe!"

"Oh, belay that," he answered, thumping the younger man back on his feet. "You've got no lungs for that," he pointed out merrily, as if it were the time for joking around. Then he turned slightly and noticed his other guests, and his grin grew even wider.

"And of course, you completed your mission! I knew you would," he babbled on, bent on crushing them as well. Before he could, 7 threw up her hands in defense.

"Please don't," she insisted. He courteously backed off at once, but retained his smile.

"Personal space issues, I remember you," he teased, snatching her hand and shaking it vigorously. "Tishrei, elder of the Jaco-Punks. And you _must_ be the legendary 7, my dear. No one else could be as glorious."

"Yeah, hi," she mumbled back, not sure what else to say while he shook her hand back and forth like a fish. It was nice to know that some of this clan had had faith in her husband. At that same time, a long while back, she had lacked that faith, herself.

When Tishrei finished his earthquake of a handshake he turned to 5, who immediately slunk back behind his sister, using her as a shield.

"It's alright, I'm good, you don't have to…touch me," he insisted feebly.

All the third clan took a long moment to enjoy his antics—even Kislev ventured a new smile, trying hard not to laugh. But looking at her husband, 7 found that 9 was not impressed or amused; mostly, he looked anxious and worried. She felt the same. And he seemed to understand it just by looking at her face. He cleared his throat, still catching his breath.

"Tishrei, look at me, please."

The crowd quieted down, and the old man turned to face him. "Why so serious, my friend? This is a happy moment, is it not?" he insisted with a wave of his arm.

"I have a few questions for you, sir."

"…Don't you always?" Tishrei replied, his smile turning a bit rueful.

"Just three or four, for now, if you don't mind."

Tishrei nodded slowly, and then beckoned teenaged Av to his side. "Take the children back to the cupboard, my dear. We wouldn't want them here for this."

Av sighed, looking put out. "Must I?"

"I'm afraid so, bubby. It won't be long."

The girl rolled her eyes, and scooped toddling Hadassah into her arms. "I never get to do anything around here," she muttered as she walked off, taking Daniel by the hand as she went.

"Now then," Tishrei resumed once the youngest were out of earshot, "what is it you wish to ask me, 9?"

"First of all: earlier this year, around January, you were near a library, yes?"

Tishrei was silent for a moment, thinking back. "Hm… As a matter of fact, now that you mention it. You were in that area, as well?"

"We live in that library."

"You don't say…"

"What were you doing out there? Isn't it out of your way?"

"We're a nomadic clan, 9, and you know that. We were on our way to our winter dwelling; we would have been there sooner, but we were trapped by the snow. When it let up in January, we were finally able to travel. It's a shame that we missed you."

He didn't sound very enthusiastic about that, though.

"Did anything unusual happen on your way?" 9 asked coolly. "Did you… leave anything behind?"

The entire clan gave a short gasp in unison, realizing where this was going. Tishrei's face went dark and frightened.

"…Did you find something?"

"You could say that."

The old man shook himself and laughed nervously. "Not… Not a girl, am I right?"

"She wasn't dead, Tishrei."

"No. Don't tell me—Pi is still alive?"

"I'm afraid she is."

"Very alive."

"She is _definitely_ alive."

The crowd erupted into fearful murmuring. Near the back, Tishrei's wife hung her head sadly, as if she had known this would happen. Nearer to the front, Kislev began to tremble violently. Adar and Iyar noticed at once and ran to steady her; as soon as her sister's large arms had her safe, the poor woman collapsed and fainted.

Pi had definitely worked her magic here, once.

"Oy vey," Tishrei muttered despairingly. "We thought we had destroyed her! And now she's taken one of yours, hasn't she? And after you've worked so hard… Oh, this is my fault!"

"It's not how you think," 9 interrupted. "We managed to escape her magic the first time. But this time it's gone deeper. And it's gotten much worse."

"_Worse_? Who has she taken from you?"

"She hasn't taken anybody," 5 said defensively. "Someone's taken _her_, and my niece, and we're trying to get them back."

The clan was silent, rather dumbfounded, looking to each other in confusion. Their clever, crazy friend was _trying_ to rescue the witch? Perhaps he was crazier than even they had thought. Before Tishrei could point out how perplexing it was, his wife walked up through the crowd to stand before their guests.

She gently held her hands up in front of 9's face, if she meant to touch him. It looked as if she was feeling the air around him, searching for something. Perhaps she was blind…?

"It has happened," she murmured, staring into his eyes, again, as if she was searching for something. "It has happened, as I saw it. The child has been set free."

"Nisan, my dear, please don't," Tishrei implored his wife. But she ignored him, moving her hands instead to 7. The look in the woman's eyes was so familiar. What could it be? When she turned to 5, she gasped in wonder and gripped him by his shoulders.

"It was you," she whispered, awestruck. "You were the one I saw—the one who would free her, exactly as I saw it!"

7 finally understood. Nisan was the 6 of the third clan. She was their Prophet, the one who could always see the hidden truth, who could only be understood a patient few. Having her answer, she turned a bit sharply to her husband, and pointed back at 5 for emphasis.

"I told you this would happen," she insisted. "I told you this would come to pass! We could have done something!"

"This is far from my fault, Nisan! She killed our son—Adar saw it, himself! What else were we to do?"

"We could have been patient, like them. Epsilon was our friend. He would have wanted us to help her."

"She _destroyed_ him, just like she destroyed Cheshvan! Like her sister destroyed Sivan, like they've all destroyed countless others! He would have wanted us to put an end to it!"

"Wait a minute," Adar interjected, pushing them apart. "I don't understand. Mother, what did you mean, she's been set free?"

"I don't understand, either," 9 added, coming to join his fellow Bearer. "You knew them. Pi was your friend once. Didn't you notice something strange was going on, that she wasn't the same person you used to know?"

"Surely, your clan acted no differently than we did," Tishrei pointed out. "What else would we have done?"

"You might have stopped to look at her," 7 suggested bluntly. "She had been enchanted the whole time. It only took my brother's one eye to see that."

"Enchanted… It doesn't atone for the evil she's done. The other elders and I haven't been able to meet for nearly three years, for fear she might stumble into our midst. She would look at our clans gathered together and see a feast! It's too dangerous."

9 shot Tishrei a glare. "That's it, isn't it? That's why you wouldn't let me tell my family about you. That's why you swore me to secrecy."

"It was best for everyone."

"We brought a monster into our home! If you had told me, none of this would have happened!"

"But it did happen," Nisan pointed out, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder, and bowing her head sadly. "It must always happen, for things to pass as they must. This is the tragic truth for all Prophets: always seeing, always waiting. It is our purpose."

Nisan seemed to have her head on much straighter than 6, who had been left to lose his mind in loneliness and neglect. She appeared to have been loved and nurtured, and probably better listened to when she spoke. She had a husband, who surely loved her in spite of his current exasperation, and many of the clan called her mother. And she was very eloquent, in her plain speech—7 had never heard the ordeals of the Prophets explained so clearly, in a way that made sense.

"All things happen the way they do for a reason Bearers," the woman concluded. "Even our petty ignorance can be used to great ends."

The rest of the third clan blanched at this. Their Prophet had tried to warn them once, and they ignored her out of fear. They had nearly killed a little girl. But, thanks to that fear, a chain of events had been set in motion that ultimately led to her salvation.

"So," Adar considered slowly, "our Pi has been under an enchantment? How is that?"

5 stepped forward to explain, because he knew the story best. "Her clan's Bearer is a wizard, who gets his strength from the souls of our living. He had been sending her sister out to kidnap people to sacrifice to him. When you killed Mu four years ago, he chose Pi to take her place. But she didn't go willingly—he cast a very powerful spell on her, to make her forget who she was. He turned her into a monster, like himself."

"If it was _so_ powerful, how did you free her so easily?" the second old man asked suspiciously, speaking for the first time.

"It wasn't easy. It took a lot of love to break that spell."

"_Love_?" the man spat. "Who could love someone like that, enchanted or not?"

"Well… I did."

The man looked 5 over with a dubious, critical eye. "You're not much, compared to a pretty girl like Pi. I don't know what she saw in you."

"Not much. It was a fight, but I was willing to fight it. My family voted to kill her; I couldn't believe it was really that simple."

"And it turned out he had been right. About everything. Again," 7 concluded, giving her brother a smile. "All because he stopped to think about it, instead of acting on fear like the rest of us. We also thought he was crazy… Until he was right."

"And now she's been kidnapped herself, by Alpha, their Bearer," 9 explained. "And he… He took our daughter, 10, as well. He's going to kill them both, if—if he hasn't, already. We're going to find and rescue them, if we can."

"Alpha? That horrible black thing?" Adar asked.

"You've seen him?"

"Once. When Pi was here last summer, she convinced Cheshvan to leave with her. I saw them go, so I followed them. I… I watched the whole thing. It was horrifying. I thought of mounting some kind of attack, but I was painfully outmatched. So I returned here, told the clan everything I had seen, and we waited. When she found us again in January… Well, you know the rest, I suppose.

"That was my brother, 9. And all I could do was sit there and watch as she sucked out his soul. That was painful."

"Do you think there's still time?"

"He will wait until dawn. That's how he prefers it, apparently. There's still time to act. Do you mean to destroy him, while you're at this rescue of yours?"

"We'll have to."

The second old man snorted petulantly. "Leave it be, I say. Leave him his feast and let well enough alone. With his pet monster out of the way, we will be safe again."

"It's not that easy, Teslev," 9 informed him darkly. "Pi has three little sisters, and the oldest of them is going to take her place if we can't stop him. If we leave Pi to be killed, her sister will end up enchanted, just like she was. And the cycle will start all over again.

"And in any case, I'm not leaving my only child to be sacrificed."

"That _thing_ has killed my nephew, and my granddaughter, and numerous others from the second and fourth clans. He will kill them like the rest, and he will kill you, too."

"Then I'll die fighting for something. I looked death in the face and kicked it's _ass_, once. Alpha doesn't scare me."

"Or me," 7 added.

"Or me," added 5.

"_Or_ me," added Adar. "This creature has taken a lot from me, too. If there's a fight to be fought, I want to be a part of it. With your permission, my friends, I'd like to join you."

Again, the clan began murmuring amongst itself. Tishrei grabbed him by the arm with a defensive look on his face.

"No, my son, no! We need you here, alive, with us. I've already lost your brother. Don't make me have to bear your loss, as well."

"9 is right, father. If we leave this be, we will never be at peace again. If the only way to end this is to end _him_, then I will help them do it. I've stood back and fretted with the best of you, but not this time. I refuse to do nothing again. By the God of our fathers, I refuse to be held prisoner to this thing!"

Nisan reached for his hand, closing her eyes and breathing slowly. After a moment, she opened her eyes and gave him a hopeful smile.

"Nisan, tell him he is to stay here," Tishrei begged his wife.

"Should you take up this journey, the God of Abraham would gladly go before you, my son," she said instead. "In fact, I believe He insists upon it." She turned to the fifth clan, particularly to 9, with a grave face.

"You would do well to take my son with you. He is a fair fighter on his own. And he would bring with him a powerful force that I fear is beyond your knowledge. Should you accept, Yahweh would surely grant you victory. The ways in which He acts are not of our will, and often frightening; but they are ways you can't afford to decline. Will you take him?"

7 wasn't sure what she meant by _Yahweh_, or all the talk of _His_ ways; but it sure sounded like an invaluable advantage. The three of them looked briefly from one to another, and all nodded in approval.

"We would be happy to have the help," 9 agreed at last. Adar grinned bravely and hoisted his quiver back over his shoulder.

"What are we standing around here for, then?" he asked, walking right back to the door. "We have a wizard to deal with, and children to rescue! Let's go!"

Iyar stomped after him and caught his shoulder. "I'm going with you," she insisted.

"No, sister. Stay and defend them. I _will_ be back; but until I return, the clan needs a guard."

Iyar was disappointed, but nodded resolutely. "Very well, then. _Mazel Tov_, brother."

"_Mazel Tov,_" he agreed, and turned to leave before anyone else could stop him.

Before they could follow him, Nisan spoke to them a final time.

"Beware, fifth clan—Yahweh acts in stranger ways than even mine. You would do well to remember it."

"We'll remember," 9 answered, giving her hand a grateful squeeze. "Thank you, for everything."

7 paused to look the clan over. They were frightened. There was no way to avoid it. So many things could happen, now.

"Don't worry," she assured them, flicking her helmet back over her face. "Justice _will_ be done tonight."

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Author's Notes…

17 pages of dialogue later, you've finally met the third clan! Congratulations! Hopefully, a few more things now make sense to you all. 8D


	23. Monster Are Due

After a nice, long Lord of the Rings marathon, it sure is nice to see the ring-bearer and king of Gondor on another whirlwind adventure together, yes? There isn't much action in this chapter; just a lot of dialogue and sneaking around. But the next chapter will be... Um, something, alright.

This would have been done sooner, except that my laptop decided it was too old and senile to work anymore. So I had to drop everything and upgrade. Can anyone say IPAD? Honestly, how did I live before this thing? XD

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Monsters Are Due

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Now their party was four. And what's fourth Adar had turned out to be. He was the third clan's explorer-an important part of the group, indeed, because as they wandered the ruins, it was his job to go ahead of them and scout for danger. It meant long days of solitude, and the frightening possibility that if he did run into trouble, he would have to face it all alone. But over all, Adar was glad to serve his family so bravely. Perhaps the role of a leader suited some Bearers; but not Adar, who was happy to roam around freely, alone in the still and quiet of the Emptiness, where he could think great thoughts and ponder the mysteries of life.

His explorations had also instilled him with an expert knowledge of certain places in the ruins, especially the places where his clan liked to stay. This little suburban neighborhood was no exception.

"In fact, once upon a time, we liked this place so well because the first clan was close by," he explained as they walked quietly through a decaying house. "I know the fastest route to their home, all the shortcuts, and all the dangers. The way we're going may cut our traveling time in half, but the buildings we will pass through are old and treacherous. Stay very close to me, and be very careful."

5 felt his heart leap with excitement. Their original three-hour trip, cut down to about ninety minutes, give or take a minute or two. They would make it to the garage in plenty of time. If they were clever, they might even make it back to the third clan's camp before dawn.

Dawn. He had never thought of the dawn being particularly frightening. But it was, now. It was looming closer and closer with every minute, even if they were making better time. If they didn't make it in time, today's dawn would only bring death: to his woman, to his niece, and frankly to everyone who was still alive somewhere. Finding Pi's freedom in himself had been a windfall; but Delta was just a child. What if she didn't have a true love yet? What if she didn't have one at all? If they missed their narrow window of opportunity, he had no idea what they were going to do next.

If a Prophet joined forces with Alpha... Nothing could stop him. Not even us. The Machine might not have been able to stop an all-seeing, all-knowing force like that. It could spell the end of our kind...

"Tell me again, why you never told us about them," 7 was saying to 9. She didn't sound angry anymore, but she did still seem a little miffed, and unusually curious. 5 couldn't blame her; actually, he felt much of the same.

"I was dumb enough to owe them a favor," he answered sheepishly. "But all they wanted from me was silence. Considering everything I learned from them, it seemed like a fair trade. Keeping that silence for so long was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. It wasn't easy, trust me. There were so many times I wanted to tell you all..."

"Then you should have just told us and gotten it over with. You could have saved us all a lot of confusion, you know."

"It's not that easy," he insisted. "They made me promise in the name of their God that I would never tell anyone about them."

7 shrugged and made a dismissive noise. "I don't see how that makes a difference. I'm your wife-how's their God more important than me?"

9 looked slightly horrified that she would take the matter so lightly. He stopped in mid-step and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"It makes all the difference. I've seen the things their God can do, and trust me: you don't cross Him. If He tells you to do something, you shut up and do it. And if you make Him a promise, you'd better keep it. I don't want to be the one who makes Him mad."

7 was stunned and confused, clearly not understanding what could have her fearless husband so frightened. But deep, deep back in his memory, 5 knew very well what his brother was talking about. He had forgotten-they were dealing with the children of Israel. Or at least, the little pieces of one of their noble souls. He had read a long time ago about their adventures and exploits, logged in the many Bibles that had been scattered around Sanctuary. The Bible had been one of the first books he had read, and the first after he had lost his eye; it had made for great practice, and he had flown through the whole thing in a few weeks.

The language had been very flowery and elaborate, and 5 didn't fully remember a lot of it. But there were several stories from the Old Testament that he remembered vividly, because he imagined it must have been a lot like what hey were dealing with, themselves. War, violence, destruction and death, everywhere they looked. It seemed like the Israelites had been constantly stuck in a state of war. As if it never ended.

But he also remembered that these people had been bold and resilient. And when they managed to behave themselves for more than five minutes, it was enough to move their almighty God to give them aid in various odd ways. Nisan had spoken about this before; she had called Him Yahweh, and mentioned that He would go before them on their adventure because Adar had joined them.

Remembering what kind of power their Yahweh was capable of in the right mood sent a shiver down his spine. If the same God from the Old Testament was now going before them, preparing a level way for their imminent success, there was no telling what was about to happen. And if they messed up, got out of line, strayed ever so slightly from their intended path, the same power that now protected them could turn on them and destroy them before they even got where they were going.

That was a terrifying notion. Even more terrifying was the fact that 7 was incapable of understanding, or worse, refused to even try to understand. Since Yahweh was going before them now, 5 decided to offer up a prayer for his stubborn sister.

Give her patience, please. And do something to make her eyes open up. I love her just the way she is, hard head and all; but if she ends up like Lot's wife, I don't know what we'll do. I'm scared, but I'm happy to let You take care of things, Sir. Don't let her be the one to put us on your bad side.

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A long time had passed, and Pi could finally hold her head up on her own. All the feeling and control had returned to her limbs, and it drove her mad that she couldn't use any of it. Locked in a cage, with her wrists tied securely to the bars, there was no point in wasting her energy by struggling. There was no escape; and struggling would only bring Alpha another measure of satisfaction with himself.

And anyway, she had a feeling she should save her energy for an epic push later. Even if she wasn't a priority to the fifth clan-which she couldn't imagine she could be, after the trouble she had brought them-Dixie was here, too. The paralysis would have worn off the others by now, as well; they knew where Alpha had gone, and certainly what he would do in the morning. She was more than sure that several of the fifth clan were on their way to the garage, intent on a daring rescue.

She wondered exactly which of them would come. 9 was sure to show up, of course; if no one else came, he would. Nothing was going to stop him from saving his child. She wondered if he would be able to talk 7 into staying behind; he was sure to try, but he was also pretty sure to fail. She was too good of a wife and too good of a mother to leave him all the danger and excitement. She kind of hoped they would bring 8 and his muscles, even though there wasn't much that sheer strength could do against the dark arts. Watching the giant beat the crap out of Alpha would be heartwarming, after all that had happened.

And 5 would come. It was a silly, romantic, childish notion to dream of a white knight swooping in to save her, but she wasn't thinking of it that way. She knew for sure that he had loved her deeply all along, and now she was more than happy to say that she now felt the same for him; but try as she might, she just couldn't picture her goofy, dorky love bursting in a valiant steed to rescue her on his own. She honestly had no idea how he would manage to get to her, even with help from his family; Alpha would be tough to get around, no matter how many of them came to fight him.

All she knew for certain was that her 5 was coming for her. She wasn't even sure how she knew it so well. Something in her just moved her to be still, be patient, and have faith in her love and her friends.

When they did come, if they did manage to get her out of this cage, she would need all her energy to make a run for it. She had never been able to outrun Alpha before; he always seemed to materialize in her way and block her. But this time, she had absolutely no other choice. If she couldn't outrun him this time, her own life wouldn't be the only one lost forever.  
She had to ready. She had to be vigilant. So she forced herself to sit still and not be too angry about anything in particular that had happened that night. It was hard, though; Alpha was still sitting on his spider, parked in the middle of the room, where he, too, would be ready for anything. And he still had Dixie in his arms, tantalizingly out of anybody's reach. The child was very still, and Pi wondered if she had finally fallen asleep...

But she soon began to squirm and whimper again, and so Alpha muttered his paralysis spell again.

"The more one sacrifices, the better his fruits, in the end," he growled, aggravated, as the baby stilled once more. "Your brave little soul will serve me uncommonly well, indeed, 10."

Several clever comments came to Pi's furious mind, though she knew better than to open her mouth and say any of them. But she couldn't help the glare she aimed so hard at his big, stupid head. She wished she could bore a hole into his face with her stare. And perhaps it sort of worked; as if he could feel her rage, Alpha turned and looked at her with a calm, sly smile.

"Whatever is the matter, my dear? Uncomfortable?"

She chose not to give him the pleasureof a response. Instead she strengthened her glare, thinking, Use your oh-so-marvelous brain and answer that yourself.

Alpha tilted his head to one side, assessing her quizzically. "No comment? Nothing at all? How unusual. I'd have thought you'd have the most to say right about now, given the circumstances. And I'm clearly not going anywhere until dawn. I could use a bit of entertainment."

Entertainment, of course. That's all he had ever really wanted from her. Once again, she refused to just hand over what he wanted. Keeping her silence, she turned away and looked off into a corner.

"Tut-tut, so stubborn all of a sudden. That meddlesome fifth clan has ruined you more deeply that even I had realized. Oh well; it won't matter in a few hours, now will it?"

It was quiet for a moment, while she silently defied him. Not if my 5 has anything to say about it. We'll see what does and doesn't matter in a few hours...  
She heard him chuckle cruelly, but she refused to look up to see what was so funny.

"Hm... I wonder, Pi... Haven't you stopped to wonder where your precious little sisters have wandered off to? I do need them, as well."

This time, Pi couldn't help glancing up at him. He was wrong, she had wondered several times why the triplets had made themselves so scarce. Not that she was very worried about them; he did need them for later, and he would need them alive and whole. Even if he was holding Gamma and Theta over Delta's poor head, threatening to hurt them if she didn't come quietly to her fate, he wouldn't actually hurt them. He never did. But that never mattered; they made excellent leverage anyway.

Plus, she thought, if anything happened to Delta, Gamma would be next. There was no way, not even in the depths of the place he had come from, that he could risk hurting the other girls. The very idea made her mechanical stomach clench.

"You should see how frightened Delta is," he continued casually. "She won't let the others come out; she doesn't want them to see us all like this, apparently. You should have a little chat with that one, Pi. Explain to her that there's nothing to fear, in the end. A brief moment of confusion is all that stands in the way between her and sweet oblivion. If only she could be convinced to let go, she would even lose the sense to understand what remorse is. You, of all people, could make her understand this."

Pi let her eyes narrow.

"She'll have to kill me first."

Alpha narrowed his eyes right back at her, and his sly smirk bent into a defeated scowl.

"Suit yourself, girl," he snapped.

Another long, tense pause passed, as they stared furiously at each other. It seemed they had reached a stalemate, where his triumph and her defiance collided.

"You must believe that you have the most clever friends," he said finally, changing the subject. "You must be under the delusion that they are coming to your rescue. You must believe that that one-eyed idiot is on his way to save your pathetic life, do you not? Don't try to deny it is true. Such a child."

"Yes, I do believe they're coming," she agreed evenly, since he had already called it. Pleased with himself, alpha resumed his grin.

"They will never make it all the way here in time. Dawn will have long passed by the time they reach this place."

"That won't matter to them. That just turns it from a rescue mission to a revenge hunt. You can't stop them that easily."

"Of course, like you would know," he said with a mocking tone.

"Yes, I would. You sent me to snatch them, remember?" She pointed out with a grin of her own.

"They're not coming for you," he growled, "and in your fickle female heart, you know it. No one is coming to save you, especially not your darling 5. You'll never see him again. You won't even get to say goodbye. What have you to say to that?"

Pi was slightly surprised to find that this didn't bother her like she had expected. He was only trying to shake her; none of what he had to say was true. No, she knew in her heart that they were coming. Nothing could make her believe otherwise.

And how would he know, anyway? He didn't have the gift of foresight, after all. Again, she turned away and stared into the corner. Seeing that he had failed to really faze her, he grunted his disapproval and returned his attention to paralyzed Dixie.

"She has her mummy's pretty eyes," he commented. "If only she weren't meant to serve me. She would have grown to be a great beauty. Do you not agree?"

Again, there were many disagreements she would have loved to give; but it was a deucedly better idea to keep her mouth shut and not look up at him. Off in the corner she was focusing on, something moved suddenly. She looked a little harder, knowing it had to be her sisters, and hoping they might show themselves.

It would sure be nice to see them as myself, before Delta has to kill me...

A moment of patience paid off. Finally, she saw half of Delta's veiled face ease out from behind that rusty old watering can, where they always hid when they were scared. Pi waved as best she could to her sister, hoping she was sending a message that she wasn't afraid, and that they shouldn't be, either. Delta didn't look convinced; but behind the veil, and so far away, it was difficult to tell.

Darn it, she wanted to see them. She wanted them to see her, too; maybe she could give them a little hope, if only they could see how much she had for herself. She beckoned Delta over with her index finger, hoping her sister could see it across the distance. The girl looked very afraid to come out, and Pi couldn't say she blamed her. But slowly, the littlest Prophet eased into the open and began to walk timidly toward the cage.

"Aha, so there you are, my little love," Alpha said loudly, even though his back was still turned. "I had begun to wonder if you cared that your sister was home again. Enjoy her while you can, Delta. You know I'll be needing her in the morning."

The girl winced, as if his attention hurt her-which it probably, physically did. But now that her cover was blown, she didn't bother creeping around like a specter. She sprinted across the space and slid to her knees in front of the cage.

"I thought he would do it himself," she said quietly, half a whisper and whale a whimper. "I didn't think he'd make me do it. I don't want to do this, Pi!"

"I don't want you to have to do this, either," Pi agreed, trying not to let her sister's fear get her down. She flexed her fingers, beckoning Delta to take her hands. The girl slowly laced her fingers into her sister's, and just sat there for a moment, breathing deeply.

"Everything's fuzzy," Delta commented quietly. "Pi, what have you done? Why aren't you afraid?"

"Because I have hope, Del," Pi insisted. "Alpha doesn't want us thinking about it, but the fifth clan is coming. They're on their way right now. They'll help us get out of this, I know it. Haven't you seen it yet?"

Delta shook her head vaguely. "I've seen other things. Frightening things. The dead were rising, walking around, but they weren't alive. I'm not sure what it means, but I'm afraid. The dead are supposed to stay dead! And you... You're not alone, Pi. There's someone with you."

"I don't understand. There's no one else here, Del."

"But there is..." Delta lowered her voice, and leaned as close to her big sister's ear as she could.

"Pi, you're not alone in your body. There's another soul inside."

Pi felt her heart stop for a long, painful second; when it beat again, it filled to overflowing with dread. If only she weren't trapped in a cage, awaiting a violent death, if only she were safe with her new family, she would have wept for joy. But now, she was suddenly seized with doubt and fear. If the fifth clan didn't make it in time... Just thinking about it made her sick to her stomach.

"He doesn't know," Delta whispered, trying to comfort her. "He can't see or sense it. And he doesn't have to know it. Only we know."

"He doesn't know," Pi repeated, though she wasn't thinking of Alpha. "What if he never does? Why, of all times, did it have to be now?"

Naturally, Delta knew what she meant. "He will. If he's coming for you, he will know. He freed you. He will free you again."

"Delta... You knew it was 5 all along, didn't you?"

"I tried to tell you. But you were trapped. You didn't believe me."

That was true enough. Delta had spoken of their being free in the past, but could never see it clearly before. And the fifth clan had been discovered; after that, all her riddles had been in the form of numbers. She'd had reoccurring visions about 5 for the past six months, but Pi had hardly been able to stand hearing his name. She had refused to hear anything her sister had to say about him.

But now he had freed her from that terrible spell. She loved him too, now. And now she was carrying his child, and he had no idea. She lowered her head against the bars of the cage and sighed heavily, feeling her throat ache with tears.

"It was only one time... It was only 15 minutes of my life..."

"Was it worth it?" Delta asked quietly.

She looked back up at her, a bit of her confidence returning at last, and found a smile for her.

"They were the most beautiful 15 minutes I've ever had."

Delta gave her a vague smile from behind her veil. "...Okay, then."

Suddenly, her eyes widened and her pupils began to shrink as another vision came over her. She involuntarily reached for her veil, uncovering her pale face as she stared into space past everything. She sat still for a long minute, frozen like a statue.

Then it finally passed, and a wide, triumphant grin spread across her face.

"They're coming," she announced in a loud voice, which caught Alpha's attention at once.

"What's that?" He snapped over his shoulder.

Delta jumped to her feet and faced him with a courage she rarely had.

"The fifth clan is near," she said defiantly. "They're nearly here, and they have the aid of the third clan. Dawn will come, as you wished, but it will not bring you power. Today's dawn will bring your doom!"

A look of rage came over his face, and he pivoted around to rise from the back of the spider. He stalked up right into Delta's face, towering over her like a pillar of flame. But she was too empowered by her vision to be intimidated.

"Is this so?" He barked at her. "You believe they have the power to destroy me?"

Delta's silence was all the answer he needed.

"Nearly here, you say?" He sneered. "Bringing my doom, you say? Well I can fix that!"

He turned on his heel and stormed off, stopping only to set Dixie down on the stone alter, and recasting the paralysis spell on her again for good measure. He walked off a bit, and then stopped with his back to them. He flung his arms wide and loudly chanted a long, powerful spell in the mother tongue. It felt like the whole garage shook, as the terrifying energy of his spell filled it. Though the candlelight remained, it's light shrunk away, as if it were just as afraid of his magic as the rest of them.

Then it was silent. The light slowly came back, daring to come out of hiding, and the whole place was still, as if nothing had changed.

What has he done...?

A shape shuffled out of a shadow in the corner, from Alpha's sleeping space was. It was closely followed by another, and another, and another. And within a few minutes, all the empty, dead shells of his previous sacrifices had lined up before him, as if they were still alive. Pi recognized them all at once-all people she had known before, most of them victims of her own. She searched the crowd and quickly found what she had hoped she wouldn't find: Epsilon and Sigma were there, as well.

Alpha paced before his army like a general. "A force is coming to fight against me," he explained severely. "They are coming with a power that has the potential to destroy me, if not properly combated. They must not be allowed to reach this garage, and they certainly must not be allowed to enter it. Wait outside. Guard this place. Kill all who come near.

"Now go!" He commanded, pointing toward the entrance. Their faces still empty, the undead army shuffled of to do its bidding. But as they filed away, Alpha stopped one of them-the black-skinned body that had belonged to Marchesvan, one of the only two members of the third clan he had. Pi felt her heart sink even further. She had taken him herself; the offense had nearly cost her her life, before.

"Not you," Alpha said decidedly. "And not you, either," he added, stopping another. It was Sivan, a pale little girl that Mu had taken from the same clan years ago. Sivan's body had been sitting in the pit for a very long time, near its depth; her yellow skin was faded, stained with earth and mildew. The stitching of her arm seam had come undone, so that her arm hung loose and uselessly at her side.

"No, no, I need the two of you here. Someone has to guard me."

Having their orders, the two bodies stood at attention, awaiting a moment of use.

It was so hard to believe what she was seeing. Pi watched in horrified disbelief as the army of the walking dead shuffled past her cage and out of the garage. She wished she could call out to her mother and father, beg them to stop and wake from the spell, but her voice had left her. And inside, she knew that they weren't alive to hear her. Outside the cage, Delta fell to her knees, trembling.

"The dead have risen..." She mumbled numbly.

Pi wished with all her heart that she could reach out and touch her sister somehow. But there was absolutely no way. Alpha returned and stood over them with a wicked grin.

"Let us see your beloved fifth clan get past that."

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Adar had been true to his word. They arrived on the street they were looking for in just under the promised hour-and-a-half, cutting through a narrow alleyway between two houses and finding themselves on a new sidewalk. Far down on the end of the street, they could see where the road ended in a cul de sac.

"Maple Street," Adar announced, waving his hand grandly at their destination. "The first clan's garage is down this way. Follow me."

They dashed down the abandoned sidewalk together, passing the normal sights they would have seen in any other neighborhood in the city. Rotting fences, overgrown lawns, rusting cars (some still full of festering bodies that they refused to look at), and homes with shattered windows and peeling paint. Most of the lots on the street had been completely leveled, the houses that once stood in those spaces rendered to nothing more than mountains of splintered wood, broken glass and rubble.

Again, normal.

The garage was where the normalcy ended, and the strangeness began. It was the only structure on the street that looked to be have been completely untouched by the ravages of the war. It stood out like a beacon, protected by the warding rite of the witch who had once lived there. It was an easy and straight shot down the sidewalk. All they would have to do was cross the street, and they would be standing before it.

Can it really be that simple? Adar wondered to himself. I don't trust that for a second...

"Brace yourselves, everyone," 9 said cautiously, mostly to his wife and brother. "It's about to get tricky."

They both nodded wordlessly. 7 flipped her sparrow skull helmet back over her beautiful face, so Adar could only see her eyes from behind the scowling eye sockets, and she gripped her spear tightly. 5 reached over his shoulder and pulled his crossbow from his pack; it had been loaded all along, and the arrow had Alpha's name written all over it. 9 himself had borrowed one of Adar's bows and some of his arrows; rather being the brains of their party, he was one to fight more with wit than a physical weapon.

But Adar had laughed at him for being so underprepared, and loaned his friend his second-best bow. Adar had his best bow slung on his shoulder, but now took it and knocked an arrow to it, as they crept across the road, to where the garage was shielded from the street by the remains of a picket fence. As soon as they reached it, Adar felt a shiver go down his spine. Something was definitely not right.

"This place is giving me the creeps," 7 complained, rubbing her arm with her free hand. "It's infuriating that my baby is here..."

"Um, you guys might want to take a look at this," 5 said in a low voice, peering through the gaps in the fence.

He sounded horrified. The rest of them came beside him and looked through the fence, and Adar nearly screamed at what he saw. The yard was full of Stitchpunks-every face he saw in the moonlight was one he knew to be missing. They were ghostly and ghastly, standing stock still, staring blankly ahead at nothing in particular.

It was clear at once, that there were no souls in those bodies.

"An army?" 9 wondered out loud, but keeping his voice down.

"Of the undead," Adar agreed grimly. "He's prepared for war, or at least for a battle. He knew we were coming."

"Delta," 9 commented. "He's already taken her. What do we do now?"

"We fight. We break past this army, and we kill him. It's all we can do."

"How can we fight them all? There's so many of them!" 7 pointed out, sounding frustrated and suddenly a bit hopeless.

"Maybe we don't have to," 5 suggested, and knelt to pick up a small rock. He crept to a gap in the fence, careful not to be seen, and threw the rock as hard as he could toward the other side of the yard. It hit the ground with a clatter, and the four of them jumped at the noise.

"I don't think that's going to work," 7 hissed at her brother.

"No, wait," Adar interrupted, peering back through the fence. Every empty head had turned toward the source of the sudden noise, and began shuffling after it.

"It is working." He aimed his arrow through the fence, aiming at the wall of the garage. He let it fly, and it hit the brick wall with another loud clatter. The whole army turned at once to follow it, and now every back was facing them.

"Huh. Thank goodness, for the small things."

They scrambled through the fence and hurried across the yard, while the army was distracted. Every few paces, Adar fired another arrow in their opposite direction, keeping the army occupied and unaware of their presence.

What a stroke of fortune. Yahweh is going before us, indeed!


	24. Miracles In The Monster's Lair

My major skill to work on for the year is action and battle scenes. Last year it was romance and fluff, obviously. Something I was never great at, and tended to glance over because I was so intimidated by it. Well, I think I've overcome the romance barrier. The next hurdle is set before me, and I plan to conquer it by summer.

So, this chapter will be somewhat intense. Again, we've got the ring bearer and the king of Gondor in the hizz-ouse. Spears will be shaken, and swashes buckled. And any parallels between Alpha and Sauron, or between 5 and Samwise are completely coincidental. We're... Still getting over our LOtR marathon from the other week. ;D

Also... Magic...

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_Miracles In The Monster's Lair_

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With the army distracted, Adar quickly found the hole in the garage wall that would lead them inside.

"This is it. A battle awaits us inside," he said gravely, knocking a new arrow to his bow. "Yahweh best defends those who can defend themselves, if they trust in Him to do the rest. Be ready for anything."

They didn't need to be reminded of that by now. They all drew a deep, communal breath, and then stepped inside.

It was quiet in the garage, but well lit by an unseen source. They immediately found themselves behind a pile of gardening tools, shielding them from sight, but also shielding their view of the space.

_But if Alpha's already taken over Delta's mind,_ 5 thought to himself, _she'll already know we're here. She'll tell him any second now, and we'll have lost our element of surprise._

But a long minute of continued silence passed, and then another, as they snuck around behind the tools, trying to get a good view of things. But nothing happened. Peering around the pile, the first thing they saw was a rusted watering can, and two small girls trembling in fear behind it. One of them held a metal pole in a trembling grip, ready to fend off danger if it came, no matter how futile it would prove to be.

"Gamma and Theta, Delta's twins," Adar pointed out. "I would be hiding, too, if I were them."

One of the girls, whose hair was loose and blonde like Pi's, noticed them first out of the corner of her sight, and looked up at them, prompting the red-headed girl beside her to do the same. At the sight of Adar, a blessedly familiar face, their faces lit up with relief and hope.

Adar put a finger to his lips, telling them to keep quiet. The girls did, but they silently leapt up and crept across the short distance to him. Then they threw their arms around him, hurrying their faces in his chest, trying not to cry too loudly.

"Delta said you would come," the red-head whispered through tears.

"What has he done to her?" Adar asked. "Has he taken her yet?"

"No, but he's going to! Please, help us!"

"No fear of that, little one. Where is he, Gamma?"

Red-headed Gamma peered cautiously around the pile and pointed with her pitiful weapon out into the empty room. The scene before them spoke for itself. They all saw the black spider plainly in the light, with Alpha perched on top it with a sharp, devilish slice of metal resting patiently over his knees.

Within a circle of lit candles was a concrete slab, and Dixie lay paralyzed in the center of it, awaiting either death or rescue. Beside him, 5 felt his sister bristle with rage again, fighting the impulse to just run off and snatch her child. It was tempting, and perhaps meant to be so. But it would be outstandingly unwise, and she knew it.

Opposite the crude altar, just out of the circle of light, 5 saw a cage of sticks and twine. Now was his turn to fight that impulse, when he saw Pi trapped inside, her wrists bound to the bars with no hope of escape. Outside the cage, a third girl cloaked in a lavender veil-Delta-stood like a guard, her wide eyes flicking back and forth nervously.

She was watching and waiting for something to happen. She must know they had arrived by now. But she certainly hadn't said anything to Alpha yet.

Alpha was watching as well, his gaze fixed on the pile of tools by the entrance. But he was watching the wrong end of it, the one closest to the hole in the wall. For all his efforts, he hadn't seen them yet.

_Some fearless, all knowing god he turned out to be. Sending out an army to guard him, and still bothering to arm himself for battle._

As if reading his thoughts, Gamma retreated back behind the pile and sighed quietly.

"Alpha's afraid," she whispered. "He's done what he can, but he knows Who you've brought with you. He knows he can't fight It, but he will still try. He will do everything in his power to stop you."

"And he has a lot of power," Theta agreed, speaking for the first time in a tiny voice that could barely be heard.

"Is there _anything_ you can do? We don't want our sister or that baby to die!"

"Don't be afraid," Adar insisted comfortingly. "The God of my people is here, and He will provide. That monster is right to be afraid."

Up to this point, 9 had been very quiet, assessing the lay of the room, all of their advantages and disadvantages, and formulating a plan in his magnificent brain. He gathered them all together-even the children-and began handing out assignments to everyone.

"We'll create a distraction, catch him off his guard, and then Adar and I will strike as hard and fast as we can. 7, while we have him occupied, get Dixie, and then get out, do you understand me?"

"No! I'm going to stay and fight with you."

"No, you're going to get my wife and my child to safety, wherever you can find it. You have to protect her."

She still wasn't entirely happy about it, but she did understand. She nodded wordlessly, resigned to her task.

Turning to the girls, he continued, "Youre both going to follow 7 out as closely as you can, okay? This fight isn't something you need to be a part of, and she'll keep you safe."

They also nodded, perfectly happy to be left out. Seeing that it would have no more use I her hands, Gamma handed her metal pole over to Adar.

"You might need this," she said.

"5, while he's busy with us, get to Pi and get her out of the cage. Send her and Delta after the others, and then come help us. We'll need your bow."

"Absolutely," he agreed. "How do we distract him? More arrows?"

"That's the plan."

"Let me take the first shot."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, brother."

There had been a few instances in the past when 5 had been grateful for having the silence of his crossbow on his side. In almost all those instances, he had only been firing for enough time to make an escape. He had only fired hoping to deal an honest death blow once before. His sister had been in the clutches of another monster then. And even that time, he had only caused enough damage to frighten the thing; it had skittered away in defeat, but carried her off as well.

He doubted he could kill a monster like Alpha on the first try, with a single arrow, even if it had been intended all night to do just that. But he could still damage him, and give them the time to mount an attack with a shred of surprise. Maybe, if he was extremely careful, and extremely lucky, and Yahweh willed them an instant victory, he could manage a one-hit KO.

_That would be fortunate, indeed..._

He silently poked his bow around the pile, aiming dead on at Alpha's head while he still wasn't focusing on the right direction. Right behind him, 9 and Adar had braced themselves to run out as soon as he was distracted.

_Steady... Steady..._

He pulled the trigger.

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Delta suddenly heard a click from somewhere very nearby, and the sound of something small and swift sizzling through the air. The next thing she heard was Alpha's sudden furious scream of pain, as he toppled gracelessly off his spider to the ground.

Most un-god-like, indeed. There was an arrow protruding from his eye, deep enough to ruin his sight in that eye permanently, but not deep enough to reach the wiring of his brain. He grabbed the arrow and ripped it out of his face, pulling several severed, sparking wires and shards of glass with it. With an enraged snarl, he snatched his sword from the ground.

"Spider-!"

It was too late to give it a command. Two more arrows slammed into the mechanical creature's side with enough force to knock it to the floor, and it powered down.

They had come, just like she had said they would.

Only the Bearers had come out yet, both armed with bows and more arrows, and good old Adar had a metal pole in one hand. They had dashed across the room while Alpha had been on the floor, and now Adar attempted to bring his pole down on the monster's head. But Alpha was quicker, and threw his own sword over his head to block the blow. Metal hit metal with a crash that made Delta jump, and she instinctively shifted her stance to block her imprisoned sister from harm.

All she could do now was stand still and out of the way, watching as the battle flared before her. Adar fought at close contact with his pole, dealing and parraying mighty blows against Alpha's sword again and again. 9 kept a short distance at all times, always behind Alpha if he could, firing arrow after arrow, trying to do some damage while his foe was busy. Unfortunately, it was clear that he was unpracticed with his weapon; every attempt he made was met with failure, as the sword fighters danced in circles out of his aim.

With each parrayed blow, Adar skipped farther and far away from where they had started. Alpha chased after him each time, blinded by animal rage, hardly able to realize that he had abandoned his guard. As the three of them inched farther and farther away, Delta wondered if now would be a good time to free her sister and run...

Before she could entertain that idea much, a pale, masked figure carrying a spear dashed out from behind the pile of tools. 7 ran straight for the altar and snatched up her child-even behind her intimidating helmet, it was still obvious that she was lovely. Delta hardly had a chance to look at her; as soon as she had her baby, she turned and practically flew off toward the exit.

Rather far away now, unable to stop her himself, Alpha noticed this and roared in frustration.

"Don't just stand there, brat, stop her!" He yelled at Delta. "Don't let her get away with my sacrifice!"

Delta hesitated for only half a moment, torn between allowing that tiny soul to be saved, and knowing what Alpha would do to her twins if she refused. Suddenly terrified by his voice, her fear won her over. She sprinted off after 7 and Dixie, wondering vaguely how she was supposed to combat the warrior, after all.

"Delta, stop! Don't do this, let them go!" Pi called desperately after her, but it was too late to stop. She was already on her way.

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Dixie was still paralyzed, and it made 7 even more angry than before; but in this moment, the usually-squirmy baby's stillness was a blessing. At the same time, she was relieved and overjoyed that her child hadn't been hurt. She held her clutched to her chest in one arm, and gripped her spear with her free hand, ready to fight and defend her baby. Just in case.

She skid to a halt behind the tools beside 5 and the girls, giving her brother a nod to say that it was his turn to go, now that she had returned. He nodded back and took off. She paused long enough for the girls to get together with her to run for the exit.

But they stopped at once. The undead army had heard the commotion, and had turned to shuffle listlessly but quicky in the moonlight to their master's aid. They were like a cloud, too thick to push past. It was plain to see, there was no getting past them. The three of them backed away against the tools, and 7 looked all around for a place to hide.

"What are we going to do?" Theta whimpered, clinging to her braver sister, who trembled just as badly. 7 wished she could answer, but she had no idea where they could go, trapped inside the garage, where they could be safe from anything.

Over the noise of the battle, her sharp ears caught the sound of footsteps hurrying toward them. Her back still against the tools, she eased to the end of the pile and waited... At the last possible moment, she whipped her spear around to pin the offender against the end of the pile.

Oh. It was Delta, her veil fallen from her face as the end of the spear fell hard across her shoulders. Her large eyes were wild with shock in her small face. There was no enchantment in those eyes, or any real intent to hurt anyone or anything.

"Please, ma'am," she said in a plain but shaking voice. "I don't want to kill your baby. But if I don't, he'll kill my sisters instead."

7 felt her heart soften, and slowly begin to break. Delta was only a little girl. What was being asked of her was so inhumanly cruel, there were no words for it. And suddenly, she looked so much like 6, begging without words to be heard. 7 lowered her spear.

"Get behind me," she commanded. A look of intense relief came over Delta's face, and she scurried to join her sisters with an embrace, which 7 understood to be very rare. The littlest Prophet was officially a part of their team.

"Is there another way out of here?" She asked.

Delta shook her head, and pulled her veil back over her face. "No. We're alone here."

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Seeing Delta run off, Pi had suddenly felt hopelessly alone, exposed and vulnerable. But she could see the raging battle clearly, without her sister to shield her. Her friends seemed to be holding their own against Alpha. Aware that this rescue mission was succeeding, he was trying in vain to make his way back to where it had started, to defend the only prisoner he still had. But Adar had him blocked from the front, still beating him back farther and farther; and 9 had him blocked from the back, even if his bowmanship skills were terrible. He had finally managed to graze the wizard's leg, leaving a small rip in his thigh; it wasn't much, but along with seeing his child taken to safety, it had given the brave Bearer a renewed measure of confidence.

And then, no sooner had 7 disappeared had 5 sprung into the light to take her place. Her whole soul leapt with joy to see him-a new and wonderful thing that she could quickly get used to. He tore across the room, his trusty crossbow replaced with a knife. He fell to his knees before her and began to saw through the twine that bound her.

"Hold still," he said. Somewhere that seemed impossibly far away now, she heard Alpha scream again in fury. It was like a faraway echo that barely reached her ears. 5 had come to save her again, just like she knew he would. She gripped his arm with her hand that has now free, and struggled not to cry.

"I knew you would come, I knew you would come," she cheered as he slashed through the last bit of twine. He gave her a quick, triumphant smile-all that they really had time for. She would have taken his face and given him a long, passionate kiss, but there was no time to be sentimental now. He unbarred and threw open the cage door and she scrambled out, letting him haul her to her feet. Now was the moment she had prepared herself for all along:

_Run!_

They were only halfway back to the barricade of the tool pile, when she heard Alpha scream a phrase in the mother tongue from across the room-his voice was very close now, as the gravity of his spell shook and darkened the space. A bolt of light cut across their path, as the flame of two of the candles suddenly shot out and encircled them. They were trapped in a circle of fire, which had started out too small for comfort in the first place. To her horror, the circle seemed to be shrinking toward them to devour them. 5 pulled her as close as he could, trying uselessly to shield her.

"We have to jump," he decided. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes!"

As the wall of flame shrank into his reach, he slashed into it with his knife with a battle cry. The fire _whooshed_ out of his way, leaving the barest of gaps, and he shoved her through it. The heat was almost unbearably intense, and the gap quickly closed around her; but miraculously, it hardly touched her. 5 followed her through, only barely singed in a few places, and they took off running again.

Maybe they would make it, after all!

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None of this was going the way it was supposed to. Between the throbbing of his destroyed eye, the continued barage of attacks from the Bearers, and heist of his exceptional meal, Alpha couldn't understand how all his defenses had fallen through. But he could feel a strong and vengeful energy coursing through the air around him, beating as hard against him as his foes were. It was determined to see him fall.

_The Bearer has brought that infernal Thing into this place, once again! It allowed him to escape my grasp before. Little good It did to save his brother, though. If dealing kindly to him the extent of Its power, It should not have bothered coming. It will not avail him._

He beat Adar back enough to cast another spell-one which invoked the tremendous power of electricity in the form of lightening. The light of the candles shrunk back in fright, and the walls began to shimmer with fine, heavy static. He threw his hand out, aiming at his escaped sacrifice and her would-be savior, and the static gathered to strike them where he directed it. It hit the floor right in front of them, landing with a roar of thunder, but they somehow they somehow managed to dodge it and run in a different direction.

No matter. There was plenty left, where that had come from. Before he could execute the next lightening bolt, Adar threw forth his pitiful metal pole like a club, aiming for Alpha's chest. But Alpha brought his sword to meet it, pivoting on his heel in time to miss another arrow.

He aimed his lightening again, focusing on 5's erstwhile head. But he dodged again, pulling Pi out of its way with him, and they sprinted in a new direction, seeking an effective shelter.  
Again he sliced his sword at Adar, and again he was blocked. This time, he grinned maniacally.

"Are you truly so great, Bearer? Oh, defeat me if you can-but we will see how eager you are to destroy your brother yourself!"

The reanimated bodies of Marchesvan and Sivan had lumbered out of the shadows behind them, both armed with clubs of their own. Adar spun around to see, and abject horror replaced his enthusiasm. More than certain that he had been taken care of for now, Alpha turned his attention to 9.

"We meet again, boy."

"Come at me. Just try something."

Alpha smirked.

"Gladly."

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The lightening and resulting thunder that boomed through the garage was terrifying, and only served to make the army hurry faster to a use. That was bad; the boys were in enough trouble already. An undead army crowding the place was the absolute last thing they needed right now, and 7 was the only one left who could stop them. She feared that at best, she could only slow them down.

She had taken comfort in the fact that, even though the army of zombies would come shuffling through the entrance in a moment or two, it would be just like Thermoplae. The hole in the wall was only big enough for a few bodies to come through at a time. She would just cut them down with her spear as they came through. In all honesty, there couldn't be more than 20 of them to deal with. It wouldn't be that bad, really. She just wished that the triplets didn't have to watch...

She had entrusted Delta to hold Dixie for her, while she dealt with the army. The baby was beginning to wriggle free of the paralysis now, her little voice creeping out in distressed cries for her mother. 7 also wished that she could drop everything and take her, snuggle her and comfort her. But her defense had to come first.

Delta gasped suddenly and went stiff, clutching the baby a little tighter in something like a death grip. 7 turned to look and became concerned.

"Is she alright?" She asked as the girl's pupils began to shrink.

"She's having a vision," Gamma answered, gently prying Dixie from her sister's grasp. "Maybe she's seen a place we can hide," she added hopefully.

The vision passed quickly-it must have been a short one. She uncovered her face and looked up to her guardian with a stern face.

"Throw it."

"...What?"

"Throw it."

7 looked down at her spear, the only thing she had to be thrown. The only thing standing between the five of them and being torn apart by the hoarse outside.

"...Not this."

"Yes, this. Throw it. He said to."

"Who did?" She demanded.

"The Voice. He never lies. Throw it."

7 couldn't believe that. She needed her spear here and now. What could have gone so wrong, that the others would need it so badly? She peered over the top of the tools to look at the battle field and saw a terrible, sorry sight. Alpha had kept two undead warriors behind, and they had attacked Adar with a vengeance. While he fended them off with deep despair on his face, the monster had turned his full attention on her 9, who was lousy with his only weapon and doomed to be cut down if he was left to fight alone.

And Alpha was still casting bolts of lightening at 5 and Pi every chance he got, leaving them to skitter back and forth across the floor, trying desperately to keep out of the way. It was a really bad situation for all of them. Especially for her boys, for all intents and purposes without useful weapons.

But they could both wield a spear effectively. She had taught them both how in recent months, specifically for moments like this. But it was the only weapon she had with her, and certainly the only one she knew how to use. She looked back at the entrance, at all the zombies that had nearly reached them, and felt her heart sink.

She couldn't refuse the bidding of a Prophet. Not after everything that had already happened, everything that could have been so easily prevented if she had only listened to her little brother. Still unable to see a good end to it, she raised her spear and aimed it for her husband. Of all of them, he needed it most. She threw it with all her strength, but didn't wait to see where it landed. She still had her daughter and three other children to protect.

All they could do now was find another shelter, somewhere as far away from the entrance as possible. There was no way to stop the hoard from pouring into the garage like the plague it was, now.

"Where else can we go?" She asked the triplets.

"There are some shelves on the far wall. We can climb them," Gamma suggested helpfully. Her enthusiasm seemed to have flown off the the spear.

"Then run! Go, quickly!"

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Not too far away, 9 saw his wife's spear fly out of nowhere and sink into the dirt floor with a muffled thud. His heart leapt-at last, something he could do some real damage with. He fired the arrow he had ready, managing to miss his mark yet again, and Alpha chuckled cruely at him.

"Such easy prey," he commented with a hungry smirk.

9 threw the bow on the ground and dashed for the spear. It was still a way out of his reach, but if he could get to it he would certainly last a while longer. Alpha chased after him, and for a second he was sure that the monster was going to catch him. But he took hold of the spear's long handle and jerked it out of the ground, twisting around to block Alpha's attack with his own new weapon.

The two blades met hard, and 9 nearly lost his grip. He had braced himself to meet Alpha's force with his own, but found his strength was still laughable by comparison. Trying not to let that get him down, he swung the spear's blade in an arc before him, forcing Alpha to jump back out of its reach. At least the blade kept a considerable distance between them. Now maybe there was a chance to run him through, and have the battle decided.

But Alpha countered the attack expertly, slamming his sword into the spear's wooden handle. In that single deft strike, the spear was sliced in two. The blade fell uselessly to the floor. Again, 9 found himself without a weapon.

In that brief second of hesitation, Alpha lunged forward and slashed his sword across 9's face. It stung with more than just pain, as if the blade itself was cursed by the wizard's evil. While he was blinded by the pain, Aloha kicked him to the ground, and kicked the blade of the spear hard across the room, out of anyone's reach.

"I will deal with you momentarily," he growled, and stalked away.

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The bolts of lightening had blocked their path, every time they had veered for the exit. The fact none of the bolts had hit them yet were nothing short of a miracle; they always came dangerously close, but always managed to miss their mark. At first, 5 had chalked it up to sheer luck and his own reflexes. But then he had remembered Who was with them, fighting alongside them for victory.

He wished that _Yahweh_ would focus on his friends instead, though. He could take care of himself well enough, and he _would_ protect Pi at all costs; there was no way he was ever letting her go again. But Adar was distracted with two undead warriors who didn't seem to feel any pain from his attacks. And 9 had taken a blow to the head, and looked to be unconscious; worse, he could even be dead or dying. They needed a miracle more than anyone else.

With them out of the way, Alpha turned his focus back to his lost preistess with a look of cold fury. He spoke a new spell, and cast his hand at the concrete slab. It split in several pieces-some much larger than others-with a sickening crack. One by one, the pieces rose in the air and flung themselves forward in attack.

Would the surprises never end? He pushed Pi ahead of him and they ran again for the exit, trying to dodge the chunks of concrete as they hurtled after them. Like the lightening bolts, the concrete just barely missed them every time. Maybe they could make it this time...

He suddenly felt his breath knocked out of his body, and went tumbling to the side as a small but still heavy piece of concrete slammed into him. He found himself on his back, pinned under its weight, his one eye facing away from everyone. He struggled to get out from beneath it, but it was so heavy. Somewhere he couldn't see, he heard Alpha give a loud, triumphant cackle.

"Not so clever now, are we?"

No, no, this couldn't be happening! Not now, when they were so close. As he continued to struggle, 5 looked off to his good side and saw a beacon of hope.

Half of 7's spear lay within his reach, it's blade glinting feebly in the light.

Alpha had only gotten lucky, this time. There were no miracles waiting for him.

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As her sisters scrambled up the shelves to relative safety, Delta dared to turn and look at the state of things. The first couple of zombies were shuffling into the garage now. Adar was still locked in combat against his brother and sister. 9 was on the floor with one side of his face torn open, struggling feebly to get up and fight even though he was in no condition to do so. 5 was trapped under a piece of concrete, disabled and out of the picture.

Pi was alone with Alpha again, unarmed and unprotected. She turned to flee, but he closed the distance between them in a few unearthly paces and snatched her by the arm. She screamed in terror and anger, trying to beat him back with her bare fists, but there was no hope against him.

There was no hope for anyone, now. There hadn't been much hope to begin with. This mission would end in failure.

Just as despair was overtaking her, she felt the Voice enter her mind again.

_The time has come, precious child of mine. You will be the one to turn the tide of this battle. You will be the one to grant them victory._

Oh... That was an honor, indeed. She removed her veil, letting the whole thing flutter from her shoulders to the ground. She wouldn't be needing it, where she was going.

"Delta, come on," 7 called to her while she stood there. "There's nothing we can do."

But Delta ignored her. Taking a deep breath, she sprinted out across the room toward the wizard. Unarmed, equipped in no way to face him head on, there was only one way she could be of use.

She thought to maybe launch herself onto his back and tackle him to the floor; that could buy everyone some time to notice and do something. But as soon as she had come in his range, she felt searing hot pain rip into her side. She cried out as she fell to the floor, clutching her side in desperation.

She was barely in one piece. He had sliced her nearly in two. All her senses began to blur together. The ceiling spun around above her; she vaguely heard Pi scream her name, but it was like the distorted wail of a specter. A fuzzy black shape appeared above her; she imagined he must be grinning with pleasure.

"I wonder what you had hoped to accompish by this, girl. It will only be Gamma now, you know," was what she thought he said. It was hard to tell. Her sight began to darken, and her eyes slid shut.

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In the blink of an eye, the situation had managed to become worse than Pi had imagined possible. What had Delta been thinking, charging headlong at the wizard with no way of stopping him? She hadn't even brought a weapon with her. Whatever she had thought to do could only have been met devastation.

And sure enough, there she lay on the ground, sliced almost in half, her life ebbing away.

Now Pi was more on her own than ever before. Alpha turned back to her, with that same horrible smirk on his face.

"There is only more proof of how doomed you all are," he snarled, advancing on her once more. "I told you, Pi, that there was no hope of a rescue. And yet there you stand, daring to hope anyway. What a deliciously foolish sacrifice you will make me."

Dizzy and frightened, Pi tried to back away and tripped over her own feet. She fell, but tried in vain to keep backing away. Every fiber of her being begged her get as far from him as possible. But there was nowhere to go now. He gripped his sword, ready to strike.

"Look at all the trouble you've caused me. Perhaps I'll tear that lovely head from your body and end this nonsense once and for all. There are plenty of replacements to be had."

Perhaps being slain like a trapped, wounded beast would be preferable, to having her soul enslaved to his strength. There were few other choices. And what of the unnamed soul inside her? The soul of her child, who it seemed she would never meet in this mortal life? Unborn or not, she was its mother; she was still determined to protect it, no matter what.

If allowing it to perish with her was the only way to protect it now, so be it. She would be damned herself, before she let Alpha claim it for himself.

He raised his blade to strike, with as much purpose and force as he had met the others with. But all at once, he stopped mid-step with a robotic jerk. His remaining glowing eye went wide with shock, and darted down to his chest. A blade had sliced through his front from the back, so dark gray that it barely stood out against his black skin.

Half a blessed face appeared over his shoulder, triumph and rage mixed upon it.

"Start with yourself," he said ferociously, ripping the spear out of Alpha's chest. In a swift, clean movement, he raked the blade across the monster's neck. The glowing red eye faded to nothingness. His body crumpled lifelessly to the ground, and his severed head rolled off to one side.

Pi's immediate thought was that she was going to be sick. That had been horrendous to watch, even if it was Alpha, even if it was her sweet, crazy, wonderful 5. But the feeling passed at once and was replaced by overwhelming joy and relief.

By the powers... Alpha was dead. It was over and done, and she was really free. Everyone was free. Forever.

5 didn't waste a second relishing his victory. Instead, he cast the spear to the side and fell to his knees beside her, scooping her into his lap and holding her closer than ever before. There was his real victory: this time, he had really freed her from everything.

"For a minute there, I thought I'd lost you for sure," he commented with a nervous laugh that was choked with tears. "Are you okay?"

How could he ask that? How could she possibly be better? He didn't realize it yet, but she wasn't the only one he had saved. They were a family of three, and it made her heart soar. She was wordless, just beyond happy to be the with him again, safe and sound in his warm embrace.

"I never doubted you," she answered with a smile of her own. "Not for a second."

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To Adar's surprise, the bodies of his family jerked to a halt. They both went limp and slumped to the ground, dropping their weapons.

Having to fight them had been a horror he hadn't braced himself for. He thought he could mentally prepare himself for anything Alpha had to throw at them. But seeing his brother and sister reanimated by dark magic, having the fight against them for his very life, beating them back with his pole and seeing them unable to even feel the pain... He had to admit, it had nearly broken him.

But their suddenl collapse could mean only one thing: one of his comrades had done what they had set out to do. He spun around to see what he had missed, and the first thing he saw renewed his dread. He hadn't seen when 9 had been cut down, or if the blow had killed him or not. But now his friend lay still on the ground, not moving, and it was hard to tell if he was breathing or not.

For a split second, his attention was torn painfully between his family and his friend. But his brother and sister were dead, devoid of any sort of animation now. If 9 was still alive, he needed help now. He ran to where his friend lay so still and rolled him over onto his back, checking for a pulse.

Thank goodness. There it was, strong but slightly slow. Half his face had been slashed open, but it was nothing a needle and some thread wouldn't fix. As far as Adar was concerned, they had come out unscathed.

He couldn't help the invisible tears that began to fall. By all the powers, the nightmare was over. They had rescued their family, and none of them had been killed. He squeezed his friend's hand in his own, hoping his unconscious could join him in a prayer of the highest praise.

_Oh my God, One who wills the stars to shine and the universe to turn... Thank you. I want to say more, but what other words are there? No words in any language can ever satisfy my praises. There is only this to be said. Therefore, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!_

He hadn't quite finished his prayer the way he wanted to-he hadn't even said Amen yet-when 7 appeared beside him with the baby in her arms. As if her very presence gave him strength, 9 began to stir and eased his eyes open. He smiled weakly, mostly with the better half of his face.

"You're alright," he mumbled, his words a bit slurred. But he looked reassured and pleased, anyway. 7 raised her helmet, revealing a look of horror at the state of her husband. She reached out and gently touched his cheek, tracing the rip with her thumb.

"Your face..."

"That can be fixed," he mumbled, sounding exhausted. His eyes flicked to his daughter, safe with her mother, and his smile grew stronger. Seeing her daddy again, Dixie squealed with joy and delight, and reached for him with her little hands. With a little help from his wife, he raised his hand to hold hers.

"Yeah... That can be fixed. She can't be."

Adar silently thanked the God of his people again. To have been a part of this adventure, to have helped make this shining, beautiful moment possible was the greatest honor had had ever felt.

That lovely moment was shattered all at once by the twins, screaming in despair somewhere behind them. Adar looked up in time to see Gamma and Theta sprint past them to the middle of the room. Looking where they were headed, he saw a sorry sight. 5 and Pi were alive, and seemed to be perfectly fine. But Delta...

Adar hadn't seen what had happened to her, or when; but the way her whole torso was sparking said enough. His heart sank. Their victory would not be so complete, after all.

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Oh, this was the end of the journey. Delta knew that to be certain. Even as her big sister held her close, rocked her gently and begged her to keep it together. The time had come, indeed. And she was okay with that.

The pain was unbearable. It was all she could feel anymore; it overpowered the warmth of Pi's arms, and the cool of 5's metal fingers holding hers. There was only the jolts of electricity sparking, and the ever-present burning of pure evil from the blade that had cut her down. It was indescribable. It was exactly the sort of pain that made one long for death-it would be the only release. It would be welcomed with open arms.

But they didn't realize this.

"Come on, Del, stay with me," Pi pleaded, fighting to hold back tears. "We're free now, and safe. There's a big, long life ahead of us all. You can't just leave now."

"Hm..." She hummed vaguely, thinking about that for a second. There was no long life awaiting her here anymore. But there was for all her sisters, and that made her smie a bit. Thinking of all their opportunities... She could really die happy now.

"Delta, pull yourself together," 5 insisted when her mind drifted too far for their comfort. "Don't worry, I-I can fix all this. Just... Hold on for a little while longer-just a little while longer. I'm going to put you back together, and you'll be good as new. You're going to be part of our family now. You're going to be happy with us... Right?"  
Her strength was fading fast, but Delta suddenly found the strength to smile a little bigger. It was so good to finally meet him face-to-face.

"I had seen you," she whispered. "I had seen your face for so long-so, so long. I knew you were coming one day... To save her... To save us all. Thank you."

"Delta..."

"I'm glad I got to see it. I knew it would be amazing. I think... Even then, I knew... You would be the last thing I got to see."

While they paused to let that soak in, her twins dashed in from the side and skidded to their knees beside her. Gamma snatched her sister's hand from 5, and held it in a shaking grip.

"Delta? Delta, don't leave us!" She cried tearfully. "Please don't leave us!"

"We need you here," Theta added, daring to speak for her sister.

"I'm sorry. I have to," Delta answered. Her eyelids were growing heavy, and forming words was becoming harder. "I wouldn't have chosen it... But it must be better this way. You'll take care of each other, right?"

The world wasn't spinning anymore; in fact, it had become oddly still. The will to keep her eyes open was failing, and darkness was closing in around her. But instead of blackness, she was slightly surprised to be greeted by light. It was like no other light she had ever seen in the world. And it numbed all her pain at once, filling her with a feeling of lightness and... Sparkling, shininess.

"I see the veil..."

Pi's voice above her sounded stern. "No... Delta, no! Don't go there! Come back! Stay with us..."

Delta elected to ignore her sister; the veil was too beautiful. As she let herself drift into the light, one last prophecy accosted her. The Voice didn't even have to deliver it Himself, in person; she just knew it. It must have been, she realized, because the Voice and the Light were one and the same; and it was all around her, welcoming her... Home.

"Bring them back, Pi... You can bring them... Back..."

As her final breath escaped her body, it felt like her soul was taking its first breath. Like she was finally alive. Like she was finally home.


	25. Time To Go Home

We are defs in the home stretch, guys. I am... Still not sure how I will manage the continuation. This part of the saga is ending; but by no means is it the end. The end is still so far away, I'm not even sure what to do.

Graduation feels the same. It's in June, and its March now. Oh glob, I'm going to be old enough to drink in a handful of weeks... AM I OLD YET?

In the meantime, I'd like to thank everyone who let me vent on them about this chapter's plot twist. It took several weeks of deliberation last year, but after a few conversations about it, I finally came to an agreement with myself. Credits for this go to Skull Witch, Barn Owl Girl, and Demon Llama Nerd-you know, the usual suspects. They have been quite helpful in the shaping of this chapter. Thanks, girls!

Also, voices: Eplaion and Sigma are voiced by Christopher Lloyd and Jennifer Anniston, as before. Rosemary, from Pi's flashback, gets a speaking role, ala Kierra Knigtly. Joining the Chris-club are Chris Hemmsworth as Adar's brother, Cheshvan, and Chris Evans as Tarragon, of the fourth clan. Oh yeah-Thor and Captain America have just been added to the fold. XD

Flying monkeys? I DO NOT UNDERSTAND.  
I DO! I GET THAT REFERENCE!

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_Time To Go Home_

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4 tried hard not to be peeved when 6 bolted upright in bed once again, breathing hard, staring off into space at nothing in particular. Instead, she pulled the sheet over her face and convinced herself that she would neither get involved nor worry about his latest vision. It went against every fiber of her inquisitive being-her parents, sister and uncle were out there, battling a monster. She wanted very badly to know what was going on with them.

But she resolved to leave it be for a while, and not bother 6 while he did what he did best. The less she interfered, the better. She couldn't stand it.

"...Gone?" He finally whispered, sounding very alarmed. He jumped out of bed and ran to his blank pad of paper in the corner. It's presence solidified the fact that the room belonged to him now, as much as it belonged to her.

4 could no longer help herself. Not when that was his initial reaction to whatever he had seen. She sat up, thinking to plea for an explanation, but it was too late. 6 was already scribbling away on the blank paper, shapes and symbols in his wake as always. There was no point in trying to talk to him now; he was in his own little world now, too far away to hear her.

She feigned patience while she sat and waited, watching him as he scribbled feverishly. There was always a sense of urgency when he drew his visions, like they had to be seen and deciphered soon, or else. But this time, an unusual confusion helped quicken his pace. How could he not understand his own vision? Strange...

When he began to slow down, she slowly climbed out of bed to stand beside him. They looked over the drawing together, trying to make sense of it. 4 felt like she understood some of it at once, and the meaning she gathered filled her heart with relief. 6 always wrote their names as Roman numerals, when he saw them in visions-V, VII, IX, and X were printed in large, bold strokes in the middle of the page. A new symbol that appeared to be Arabic had joined them, so that they made a circle of five. Pi's symbol stood in the center of the circle, safe from harm, flanked by the slightly smaller symbols of Gamma and Theta, her sisters.

So they were all alive, at least. Searching for the cruel letter A for Alpha, 4 spotted it up in the corner-printed small, along with those other small symbols that seemed to want to belong, but didn't. The names of the first clan's dead.

4 gasped in pleasant surprise and clasped her hands together. "_They did it_!" She cheered. "_Oh, 6, they did it! They saved us all! We're free!_"

6 didn't answer. He stood sort of paralyzed, staring dumbly at his drawing with look of... Disappointment on his face. "But... She's gone..." He whispered sadly, his gaze on the names of the dead.

"_Who's gone? What do you mean_?"

He reached up and pointed to another symbol that had joined the dead. A small triangle for Delta had been added to them. 4 immediately felt her heart sink. The victory hasn't been so complete, after all.

"She was like me, 4. She was like me... She's gone..."

He was so sad. If he felt it this badly, the other Prophets must have felt it too, wherever they were; and it must have hurt them just as much. Bad enough that Pi had to lose her little sister; it was like the Prophets had lost a member of a clan of their own. There were only a precious five of them to begin with; now only four remained.

The night's victory was worthy of celebration. It was unfair that it had to be prefixed by mourning. She clutched his hand and his arm, laid her head on his shoulder and snuggled him gently for comfort.

"I_'m so sorry_," she flickered softly, not sure what else there was to be said.

"They will return."

"_...Huh_?"

"The Lost will return. Dawn will come, and the day will be new. Everything will be new, and right again. He said so."

"_Who? How?_"

6 shook his head. "That's not part of the answer. But they will return."

It looked like they would have to resign themselves to that, until their family came home to explain the details. Feeling an odd mix of joy and grief, 4 gave her love a bigger hug, and sighed sadly.

_What happened over there? I wonder what's going on right now...?_

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At the very same moment, it happened to be just past five o'clock in the morning-dawn was not far away at all. But to Pi, it felt like the past hour had been another miserable eternity. Alpha was finally dead, and it was a joy. But in destroying him, they had left a horrifying mess in their wake:

Upon the sudden death of their master, the army of zombies had collapsed in mid-step, the power that animated them no longer in effect. So now they weren't shuffling after their prey, following orders, and that was good. But now the yard was full of dead bodies. How on earth were so many bodies to be dealt with?

9 had been injured badly, and could barely sit up, still. Something about Alpha's hand-crafted blade had cut deeper than skin, and left the brave young man unconscious for a time. He was the only one of them to take a really critical blow, which was a blessing; and the straight, smooth gash in his face had been stitched back together in his sleep, leaving an impressive and rather dashing scar of black thread from the corner of his mouth to just below his ear. Most importantly, he would live. But for now, he was very weak. Whe he would be able to travel home was impossible to tell.

And then, worst of all, there was Delta. Holding her little sister close, watching helplessly as her life just slipped away had been almost to much to bear. But now having to sit back and decide what to do with the girl's small, thin, lifeless body... Pi had been paralyzed again. She couldn't even find the tears to weep; it felt like after all the previous day and all the long night, she had run out of tears to shed for anything. Not even this wretched last straw.

All she could do for a while was sit in silence, staring off into space, wondering how all these terrible things had happened. She couldn't hear or feel anything else around her, like all her senses had abandoned her. If she felt anything, she felt dizzy and cold, and numb. Very numb.

After a long time in what felt like the twilight zone, she had suddenly regained her senses and realized she had to stand up and be responsible. For the sisters she still had left, if for nothing else. They needed her more than ever, and she was finally free to be there for them, exactly as she was.

The air had grown thick with hazy smoke while she had been numb, and she turned to see that someone had broken down her cage and piled the wood on the floor, where the concrete altar had been. The pyre had been set ablaze, the source of the smoke. Within the dancing flames, she could see a metal skeletal frame beginning to char and crack in the heat.

Adar stood before it, watching grimly with his arms crossed over his chest. Taking a cautious gulp of air, Pi walked on shaky legs to stand beside him. They were silent for a moment.

"...I didn't know what else to do with him," the cowboy finally said in a low voice. "If we hadn't destroyed him completely, down to his very, wicked bones, I was half afraid he could still come back. Not even the devil deserves to lay on the ground, in pieces, without being out to rest, anyway."

"Really? Not even Alpha?"

"Perhaps, when the time comes, even you and I can learn to forgive him," Adar said quietly, hopefully.

"No one will agree. I'm not sure if I do."

Adar put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a hug. "Time can build up as much as it tears down. We will see what wonders it can work, in its way. Listen, go speak to your 5. He has something important for you."

"Right. I have something pretty important to tell him, too..."

Before she turned to leave, Adar ruffled her hair affectionately. "I am glad that you're alright, Pi. Seeing what had become of you... We should have listened to my mother. Perhaps we could have prevented all of this. In any case, I am glad that you are a part of us again."

Pi ventured a small smile for him. She was happy for that, as well. She trudged off to look for 5, wondering what words she should use when she found him. She spotted him not too far away, pacing nervously, with what looked like... Her clan's talisman in his hands. Suddenly a little concerned, she found the energy to quicken her pace.

When 5 saw her coming, he went to meet her. But when they met, they were amazingly silent for a moment. After everything that had happened, what was there left to be said? He fidgeted with the talisman, and finally, shyly held it out to her.

"We had found this with him," he explained quietly. "We thought you'd like it back."

Pi took the gleaming black talisman with shaking hands and just held it for a long moment, staring at it blankly, not sure what to do with it. Sighing, she decided, "Well... I guess that means I'm our Bearer, now..."

Maybe the well wasn't completely dry, after all. She sniffled miserably, trying to force back the sobs that swelled in her throat. She held the infernal blob of metal to her chest, wishing her family could be with her again. There were only three of the first clan left. And she missed them so much...

As if sensing her longing, rising to fill that void, 5 wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. She burried her face in his shoulder, knowing he wouldn't mind if she used his rough skin to muffle her sobbing. He stroked her frizzy hair with gentle fingers, and softly hummed a song in her ear.

He had such a good, gentle heart. She couldn't believe he would give it to someone like her. He had to know, now. He more than deserved it.

"5, I need to tell you something," she whispered.

"Anything, my Pi. I'm listening."

She took a deep breath, hoping her voice wouldn't break too badly. "...I'm pregnant."

She felt him stiffen suddenly, startled. A gasp caught in his chest, and his arms tightened around her. But it was unclear whether it was from delight or alarm. Feeling suddenly afraid and rather ashamed of herself, she cuddled deeper into his embrace.

"Delta felt the soul inside me; it was one of the last things she saw," she explained. "I'm having a baby, 5... _Your_ baby."

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, almost interrupting her. "I'm so sorry. I never-I didn't-"

"No, it was my fault. It was my idea and-"

"Stop," he said finally, pulling away to look at her with a smile. "I just mean... This is wonderful."

"You're not angry with me?"

"You're not angry with _me_?" He countered with a relieved chuckle, and pulled her close once again. "This is the best thing that's happened to us so far. How could I be angry with you? All that I care about is that you're safe. Both of you..."

He stepped back again as the gravity of his words sunk in. He looked dizzy, like he might start hyperventilting. Suddenly, the night's events meant something entirely different.

"He took _everything_ from me," he realized. "I was going to lose _everything_, and I didn't even know..."

She reached up to touch his face, drawing his gaze back to hers. She traced the seam of his eyepatch with her thumb, thoughtfully admiring his goofy, brilliant face. She was so proud of him, she finally found the strength to really smile.

"But you saved us. You didn't lose anything."

He placed his big, strong hand over hers and returned her smile. "I've gained the world. I love you, Pi. I have since the moment I saw you, and I always will. Nothing in the whole world can ever change that."

"It's a big, wide world. Anything can happen."

"No. You are my world."

He pulled her back to his heart, tucking her head to his shoulder as his fingers burrowed deeper into her hair. Still clutching the talisman in one arm, she wrapped her free arm around his waist and hugged him back. It was so warm and safe, here. For a brief moment, a small part of the world was the way it was supposed to be.

Without warning, the talisman began to hum softly, giving off the barest vibrating against her chest. Startled, she pulled away to inspect it, hoping it wasn't going to explode, or heaven knew what else it could do. But all it did was go on making that strange humming sound-a shimmering, chime-like sound, as if it were singing. 5 held her hands as she held the talisman, just as puzzled as she was.

"Delta said to bring them back," Pi pointed out. "Those were her last words. What did she mean?"

"Perhaps there's a way."

"We'll never know, now..."

5 gave her a knowing smile . "Let's go talk to my brother. He'll know what to do." Without waiting for an answer, he took her hand and led her off.

Fortunately, 9 had come around a while ago and was able to speak again; but movement was still difficult for him. They found him holding his sleeping daughter, singing quietly to her as she slumbered peacefully, safe in her daddy's arms once again. 7 sat beside him, silent and vigilant in his weakness; but her face was oddly blank, as if she was glad of the way things had turned out, but dissapointed by them at the same time.

However, when they saw their brother and new sister approaching hand-in-hand, they both smiled brightly. Maybe their world had been righted completely for a moment, as well.

"How's your face?" Pi asked as she sat down beside them.

"Feels kinda funny," 9 answered with a slight slur, rubbing the scar gently. "I'll get used to it, eventually."

"Quit picking at it," 7 scolded, reaching over and swating his hand from his face. "It won't heal any faster that way." Turning back to Pi with a more somber face, she asked, "How are you feeling? And your sisters?"

Pi lowered her gaze sadly to the talisman, thoughtfully brushing her fingers over the black metal. "Exhausted and sad, mainly. The girls have already cried themselves to sleep. I can't believe I haven't done the same..."

"We're so sorry for your loss. We know a thing or two about losing people we love. It's just..." 7 sighed and looked down at the ground, at a loss for words. "We're just so sorry."

"It's not your fault, 7. She did give 5 the few seconds he needed to get back on his feet. Alpha would have killed me if he hadn't been so distracted. Delta knew what she was doing, I know it. It's just sad it had to end with our parting."

A moment of silence passed between the three as they reveled bitterly in that truth.

"Was there something else?" 9 asked.

"It's this thing,"she answered, showing him the talisman. "The last thing Delta said to me was something about bringing 'them' back. I don't know what she meant, but I can't just ignore it. All I know for sure is that it has something to do with this. Can you help me?"

He nodded slowly, the gears in his head already turning. "I'll trade you, then," he said, shifting Dixie around in his arms. Pi held hers out to take the child, and passed the talisman into 9's free hands. The baby went on slumbering, just as tired as everyone else from their adventure. Pi sighed and took Dixie's small hand in her own. The fact that she had made it out of all this mess unharmed, that her mommy and daddy had actually succeeded in rescuing her-it was the one solid, unspoiled victory they could all be proud of.

While she slowly rocked Dixie back and forth, 9 turned the talisman over and over in his hands, testing its weight and feel. He held it to his ear a few times, his brow furrowing deeper each time. He even flicked his finger against its side, which Pi tried not to let the resulting ringing frighten her.

"That pitch is very high," he murmured at last. Turning back to her, he concluded. "This talisman is full of something. More full than I've ever seen one."

"Full of... Souls?" She asked nervously. "I thought Alpha had, you know, _eaten_ them all."

"He fed on them by attaching this talisman to his own heart. While trapped inside, their energy sustained him, like a battery. But when his own soul was forced out of its body, all the other energy that never truely belonged to him returned here," He explained as simply as he could, tapping the talisman for emphasis. "I won't even bother explaining the mechanics-it's confusing, even for me, and I've spent nearly two years studying these tools."

Pi was silently grateful for that. She also kind of liked the way 9 had called it a tool. When he put it that way, the enigmatic talismans that each clan had suddenly didn't seem so enigmatic anymore. They were just common tools, that anyone could be trained to use properly. That was inspiring, and took the sting from being saddled with it for the foreseeable future.

"So, what does it mean?"

"The souls trapped inside have to be released. It's an basic, easy sequence; I've used it on occasion, myself. It's... Not an altogether an unpleasant experience. It's nothing to be feared."

"Is that what she meant about bringing them back? Just getting them out of the talisman and letting them go?"

9 opened his mouth to answer, and then closed it again. Setting the souls free certainly wasn't the same as bringing them back to the living world.

"Bringing them back... That may be something completely different."

5 shrugged. "You've done that before, too," he pointed out. "What was so different then?"

"Lots of things were different, 5. It was light out, and there were actual vessels for those souls, and-"

He stopped in the middle of the next word, turning to look back toward the entrance. The first couple of zombies that had shuffled in still lay collapsed behind the pile of gardening tools; but one of their hands had sprawled out into sight, a visual reminder of a very close call.

Up until now, they had planned to add the empty shells to the fire that had started with Alpha-it was nice and fitting. After all, what else could really be done with them? On the other side of the flaming funeral pyre, Adar had already prepared the bodies of his family. Those bodies had once been his brother and little sister. And now he was getting ready to add them to the flame. There was little else to be done.

"Pi," 9 asked slowly, "how many sacrifices were there, all together?"

That was a painfully disturbing question, and she tried not to blanch too badly at knowing the answer right away. "12."

"How many bodies were reanimated?"

"...12," she answered, beginning to see where this was going. "They're all there."

9 paused to do a quick figure in his head. In his concentration, he even drew an imaginary math table in the air as he calculated some variable. Pi wished she could see what tapestry he was weaving from his knowledge. To see what his brain looked like when he thought like this must have been something divine on its own.

Finally, he finished and looked back at her.

"Don't let Adar burn anyone else," he said with an excited, confident smile. "Delta was right, Pi: with our help, you are going to bring the Lost back to life."

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That was the end of that discussion. Pi had tried to argue that it couldn't have been her-not after all the trouble she had caused these people. This was surely a job for one of the real heroes, one of the Bearers, but not for her. After all, she had done so little to help in this fight; she had been kidnapped, locked in a cage, and nearly killed when she had tripped over her own feet. She couldn't see how she could be so useful, when she was truly so useless.

At that point, 5 had swooped to the rescue yet again, and made her lie down with her sisters to rest. She needed her strength for the task at hand. He supposed he would be frightened as well, if this had been asked of him. She fell quickly to sleep, exhausted from nerves and the long, terrible night. He paused briefly to watch her sleep, and wondered if he should tell his brother and sister the big news.

_How would it look, when we aren't even married yet? Of course I planned to ask her, in any case, and nothing was going to make me feel any differently, but... No, I can't do that to her. Not after everything that's already happened. Maybe nobody needs to know. Ever. This will be just between us, and Delta-rest her kind soul._

With that decided in his mind, he went to help his companions prepare for the ritual. It visibly peeved 9 that he was still too weak to stand up and help them; but he gave them easy directions to follow. The bodies were to be arranged in order, from oldest to youngest by clan, so the souls in the talisman could find their ways back easily. Apparently, they would know where to go on their own.

Adar took charge of cataloging them and determining where in the order where they would go. He did so with a heavy but hopeful heart. He knew every one of these people by name, and many of them had been good friends of his. The task was grizzly, but he was thrilled by the possibility of seeing them alive again.

He would get his brother and sister back. His nephew and niece would have their father back.

Between the four of them-9 giving instructions, and Adar, 5 and 7 doing the heavy lifting-the job was finished in less than an hour. The result was a row of 12 lifeless bodies on the lawn, beginning with Epsilon, the very first of their race to be created, and a giant named Basil, the eighth of the fourth clan.

Because, of course, Alpha had utterly failed to take anyone from the resilient fifth clan.

Light was finally gathering on the horizon. The beautiful dawn had nearly arrived. As the four of them sat in the summer grass, surveying their work, 9 sighed wearily. But happily.

"It has to be done either at sunrise, or sunset," he said vaguely. "It's symbolic of the circle of life. I used to think that such things were just ceremonial and didn't matter, in the end. But, in the end, they do make all the difference. Your Yahweh has provided, indeed."

"Mother said He would," Adar agreed with a tired smile. "And He always does, if we let Him. He's really wonderful, like that. We should wake them soon, shouldn't we?"

"Yes, now. If we wait much longer, we might miss it."

With a decisive nod, 5 got up and went back to the garage to collect Pi and her sisters. The three that remained sat in silence, waiting for him to return. While they waited, 7 plucked a blade of grass from the ground and began fiddling with it idly.

"What do you think they'll have to say when they come back?" She wondered. "Do you think they can ever forgive her for what's been done?"

"Only time will tell, I suppose," Adar answered thoughtfully. "It is in some of them to hold terrible grudges, even if it wasn't Pi who harvested them. As for her mother and father... Well, sir, I believe they understand already."

A few moments later, 5 returned with Pi and the twins-he had even brought Dixie, who had been left to sleep in the garage. The baby slept as if she was dead, and probably wouldn't wake, even for the commotion of the ritual. He led Pi by the hand, and she carried the talisman in her free one, still looking tired and numb. Gamma and Theta trudged listlessly behind them, their focus on the ground. Even if their parents would be brought back, there was no retrieving their sisters. There was no retrieving Delta. Even if there was, they wouldn't dream of hauling her back to the lovely place she had gone to.

Observing the row of bodies, waiting to be filled again, Pi sighed heavily and quickened her pace a bit to stand before them alone. She looked back down at the talisman with what might have been wonder, if she hadn't been so afraid of it. It's power daunted her beyond anything. And she felt that it had to be done all on her own, with no help from her friends, or her love.

As if to prove her wrong, 5 handed Dixie back to her mother, came behind Pi and gripped her arms.

"You're not alone, Pi. You don't have to do this by yourself. We're all here, with you. I'm with you."

Reassured, she took a deep breath. "What do I do with it?"

"Place it on the ground. I'll show you the sequence."

"I've never done this before... I never dreamed I'd have to. What if I make a mistake?"

With a knowing smile, he answered, "It's easy. You'll be amazing. Trust me."

That must have meant something to them, because the smile she gave him was confident, if not a bit rueful. She knelt to place the talisman on the ground, and he knelt beside her to point out the sequence.

The rest of them stood respectfully, and watched in silent wonder at the two of them. They were so properly suited for each other, it was a bit suspect. Leaning on Adar for support, 9 looked down as shy Theta wriggled under his other arm and snuggled into his side.

"Father said once that they were in love-our creators," she mentioned quietly. "Maybe that's why... Do you... Do you really think he'll come back?"

He patted the child on the head with a smile. "I know he will. They'll all come back. I promise."

As the sequence was entered at the talisman began to hm louder and louder, 5 pulled Pi to her feet and quickly dragged her back several paces. The thing began to shake violently, and burst open as it always did. None of the fifth clan was too surprised by this; 9 found that he didn't jump at all at it, anymore. But the rest of them were frightened, and Theta shifted behind him for shelter.

The first soul emerged slowly, glowing hazy bright green. It was a face that 9 couldn't place to its body, as it looked over the crowd in hesitant confusion. But it finally realized that it was out of the talisman and gave them a relieved, overjoyed smile. It turned to look over its shoulder at the row of bodies, and walked along it to find its former shell.

This continued several times, many of the souls barely stopping to acknowledge anything else before turning to seek out their bodies. They each stopped to wait at the feet of their bodies, until they were all together. But as they waited, they watched with rapt attention to see which of their cell mates would come forth next.

And before long, Pi got what she had been waiting for. The glowing soul of Epsilon, her father, finally emerged from the talisman. Her whole self illuminated, and it looked like she might spring into his arms, if he had let her. But hardly a second later, a delicate hand emerged after him. He bent to help its owner into the world, and pulled the soul of Sigma, his wife to his side.

They paused for a long moment to regard their daughter with a pair of proud, forgiving smiles. With an appreciative nod in 5's direction, Epsilon turned to escort his wife back to her body, where he took his own place beside her.

The last two to appear were the only two belonging to the third clan-Cheshvan and Sivan. The strong, sturdy warrior, 9 recognized right away; but he had to look again at the very young girl who followed him. Sivan had been taken many years ago, and he had never seen her before. But she looked very much like Av, her sister; not enough to be twins like so many of them had turned out to be, but alike, all the same. Seeing them, Adar gave an overwhelmingly relieved sigh. He had waited with waning patience to see them. All his old, sturdy hope had suddenly returned.

Sivan was clearly the youngest of the gathered souls; hers practically skipped back to her body, one of the last to be claimed. She seemed thrilled to return to it, even though it was in disrepair. Cheshvan took the only body that remained, just to the right of his sister. At last, everyone was in their place. And just in time-the sun was rising.

In unison, the 12 souls closed their eyes and let themselves fall backwards into their shells. They drifted like gossamer silk in the air, and their glowing forms faded back into their skins. As they faded away, the first gleaming ray of sunlight broke in the world with a light that was more blinding than ever before, accompanied by an amazing flash of green.

As the world was illuminated by the dawn, all 12 bodies gave a great gasp of air, a first breath with a sound like a wave breaking on the shore. Several of them sat straight up and looked themselves over with joy and disbelief to be in control of their bodies again.

They were all alive. Every single one of them had made it back.

The heroes stood still and watched with gaping mouths, paralyzed by a million different emotions. Epsilon, the only elder to have been taken, quickly took charge and climbed to his feet with surprising enthusiasm for having just been brought back to life. He gave his eldest daughter that same benevolent smile, and held out his arms.

"Do I not get a hug, my darling girls?"

It was more than enough for Pi. With a squeal of joy she finally sprang forward into her father's waiting arms. As their mother also stood, the twins ran forward to her as well; Theta nearly knocked 9 over in her excitement. Through all the long night, he hadn't seen the shy little girl so animated. He smiled after her, remembering his excitement when his own family had returned. He didn't blame her in the slightest.

Though Adar remained rooted loyally in place, supporting his weakened friend, it was plain to see that he also longed to run to his brother and sister. 7 obviously saw it, as well. Cradling Dixie in one arm, she put her free hand on his shoulder.

"Go to them," she said in her gentle, motherly voice. "I'll take it from here."

Adar hastily traded places with her and rushed to his family. He fell to his knees beside them and threw his arms around them both, causing Sivan to cry out in pain. Her arm was still dangling uselessly at her side; and now that 9 considered it, her wiring probably want in the best shape, either. But Adar didn't care, and neither did his brother or sister, really. Their reunion was joyous and tearful, heartwarming to behold.

After a moment in triumphant embrace, Epsilon turned Pi over to her mother. His hands free, he marched right up to 5 with a very serious face.

"You..."

5 looked nervous as the old man trailed off, wondering what he would have to say. A half-second's hesitation later, the elder flung his arms around the boys neck, a gesture of gratitude that couldn't be escaped.

"You saved my child," he said, his voice breaking. "Thank you. Thank you, so much!"

5's own hesitation passed, nervousness reached by relief. He hugged Epslion back.

"It was my pleasure."

9 and 7 sighed deeply together. At last, everything really was right with the world.

Until-

"We'll, what are we waiting for?" Demanded an angry voice from the row of the fourth clan. It was a woman with skin of purple and green, pointing a furious finger at Pi. "There's the witch! Kill her!"

The whole crowd erupted at once, shouting their various conflicting opinions at one another.

"Rosemary's right! The girl's done more damage than her theiving sister ever did!"

"But she brought us back!"

"She's a witch! Burn her, I say!"

"She's a child! Leave her alone!"

"She'll take us all again! She hasn't changed."

"I'm not losing her again! I'll die myself before you touch her!"

"Everyone, SILENCE!"

With a majestic wave of his hand and a well-placed roar, Epsilon had the crowd quiet at once. He was the only elder present, and his rule was to be neither disrespected or ignored. Even if he was sure to be the most biased of all.

"Now all of you, listen to me with clarity," he commanded when he had everyone's full attention. "You have all seen as clearly as I have, the things that have happened this night. And you all know just as well, this was not her doing."

"That isn't fair," Rosemary cried indignantly, jumping up to confront him. "This was all _her_ fault!"

"Yet if I recall correctly, it was Mu-not Pi-you allowed to lead you to your death, girl. If anyone is to blame for what happened with you, it was _you_, yourself, for being so easily led."

"That's beside the point. Where _is_ Mu, anyway?" Rosemary grandly asked the crowd. Of course, the sinister woman was not there.

"Oh yes, she's dead, isn't she?" She sneered in Eplison's face. "Someone has to pay for this. Someone _will_ pay for what happened to me, and if Mu isn't here, I say take it out of Pi! Put her to death! See how she likes it!"

The dark green man who had lain beside her ran to restrain her, grabbing her by the shoulders and trying to pull her back.

"Rosey, please. It's over. Let it go," he pleaded. But she shrugged him off and turned on him instead.

"Oh, so you _want_ her coming after us again? This is no time to pick sides, Tarragon! Are you with me, or the witch? Use your brain for this!"

"Enough!" Epsilon bellowed after her, enough to make her cower away from him. "That's quite enough out of you. Take your place with your clan and be silent!"

Finally intimidated, Rosemary grudgingly let her dark friend haul her away. She didn't speak again, though she stood in silent fury.

"Now that _that_ is settled," Epsilon continued, turning again to the crowd, "there is still plenty left to do without us bickering amongst ourselves. The curse is lifted. Alpha is gone. With the help of our friends, we are alive once again. I am certain, the next course of action is clear to us?"

Everyone was silent, looking amongst themselves for an answer. Finding none, most of them looked back to the elder for guidance.

"We must each return to our own clans, of course. Explain what has happened. And we must convene once again. It has been entirely too long that the clans have gathered; if there was ever a moment for it, that moment has come.

"Tell your elders, we are to meet at our gathering place in a week's time. Pull yourselves together quickly, and be on your ways to your families as quickly as you can."

The command given, those who had remained still climbed to their feet and made themselves ready to walk. Some, like Sivan, found themselves needing to be carried. While everyone stopped to say their varied goodbyes, the few third clan came to see their friends.

"So," 7 said thoughtfully, "this is Cheshvan."

"Marchesvan, actually," he corrected with a patient smile. "But that's a syllable too many, for a name that is already difficult to say, I think. And you must be the illustrious 7. I would offer you my hand, except they are both full."

Indeed they were. His arms were full of Sivan, who smiled and waved weakly at them. "Hi," she said quietly, as if speaking was a little painful.

"Will you return with us, for rest?" Adar asked right away. "We are always happy to have you, of course; and I'd say we've earned a long sleep."

"I think we shall," 9 agreed right away, realizing for the first time how truely exhausted he was."I don't know if I could make it all the way home if I tried."

The two brothers smiled and nodded their pleasure, and turned to lead the way out of the yard.

"And you, get some sleep, yourself," Cheshvan said to Sivan. "You're not in the best shape, either."

The girl yawned, even as she protested, "I didn't even do anything..." Nonetheless, she rested her head in her big hrither's shoulder and closed her eyes.

7 halted them briefly, as they passed 5 and he gave them no notice. He was in deep but quiet discussion with Epsilon, who was listening patiently as he thoughtfully stroked his scraggly beard.

"Aren't you coming?" She asked, finally getting her hrither's attention. 5 looked over his shoulder at them, thought for a second, and shook his head with a vague smile.

"Actually... I'm going to hang around here for a bit," he answered. "I'll catch up with you later."

Having a mutually good idea what he was up to, they nodded their consent.

"We'll be back with the third clan, sleeping."

"I'll follow my map, then."

Leaving 5 behind, they returned to their friends, feeling rather pleased with the way things were headed. When they returned without him, Adar looked puzzled.

"He's not coming with us?"

"He has some stuff to take care of," 9 assured him. "He'll be around."

"...Will he ask to marry her, then?"

"He was going to, anyway," 7 pointed out. "There was never any doubt about that. Pi and her sisters had no family left-they were going to become a part of ours. But now that they have their family back... He isn't going to just rip them apart again."

Cheshvan chuckled warmly. "He sounds like a good man, your brother. And quite the hero. It seems to run in the family, doesn't it?"

She smiled back, with a chuckle of her own. "Thank goodness for that."

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An hour or two passed in relative silence. Pi spent that time watching over her sisters as they slept once more. She wished that she, too, could find the calm to sleep again, but it was no use. So much was happening, how could she bear to close her eyes and miss even a second of it?

However, she did spend that time alone. 5 paid her little attention, and neither did her parents. Instead, the three of of them sat together in secretive conversation. She wondered what they could be talking about, but didn't try to interfere with it. The conversation was clearly none of her business.

Finally, about nine o'clock, 5 returned to her with news she didn't care for.

"Pi... I have to get going," he said sadly, taking her hands and helpings her to her feet. As her body lifted up, her heart sank.

"Now? Must you really go?"

"I have to. They need me."

"But I need you," she countered. Lowering her voice, she added, "...We need you."

He pulled her close and held her tight. "Don't worry. We'll see each other again in a week. And we'll never have to do this again."

"What do you mean?" She asked. He leaned in to nuzzle her cheek and took a deep breath.

"Pi..." He whispered in her ear. "Will yo marry me?"

She pulled away to look him in the eye, dumbfounded for the hundredth time. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice failed her.

"Marry me," he repeated, his whole self shaking from excitement. "Marry me, next week, in front of everyone. We'll show them what love can really do. We'll never be apart again."

Before he had even finished, she threw her arms around him and found her voice again, in overjoyed laughter.

"Yes! A million times, yes! Of course I'll marry you!" She cheered, feeling another wave of tears threatening in her throat. But it suddenly dawned in her...

"But, my family-"

"I already talked to your mother and father," he assured her. "We're making plans. Everything is going to be fine. It really will, this time. I promise."

She was still for a moment, soaking it all in. "...Oh my gosh, 5, we're getting married... We're going to have children, and a family of our own! I... I never thought... I never thought this would happen for me..."

He kissed her forehead and caressed her face, drawing her gaze back up to meet his. "But for now, our clans need us. My brother and sister need me. And your sisters need you. Spend some time with your family. Mourn for Delta. Be with them, as your real self, before you have to leave them again."

"Oh... You're right," she agreed with a sigh. But she couldn't keep from smiling for long. "This week is going to fly by in an instant, isn't it?"

The kiss he answered with was long overdue. It was sweet but passionate, and could have last for minutes of it lasted for a second. And to think-the next time they would share a kiss this beautiful, it wouldn't be in parting.

In fact, it would be a bright, glorious beginning.


	26. Reunited, We Stand

Today, you will meet all the other clans. How fun will that be?

Maybe its just the Wreck-It Ralph buzz, but Sage (who you will meet momentarily and will be important later on) is voiced by Sarah Silverman. The match is just really kinda perfect. I don't know too much about everyone else; but this one is most excellent.

Also, there is an amendment to be made. I have no idea where I got the number 23 in the last chapter. It will be fixed momentarily. That number is entirely too big. Disregard it, and replaced it with 12 in your heads, yes?

A final note, we officially have the makings of a continuation: _Beneficial_. This will commence, oh... In April? XD

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_Reunited, We Stand_

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8 wasn't sure what was going on downstairs in the common spaces; but he sure heard a lot of commotion. However, after what had happened last night, he wasn't leaving the watchtower. How that monster had managed to slither past him was unimaginable, and it made him feel terrible. Maybe he shouldn't have sent 9 to bed, after all. He could have used an extra pair of sharp eyes. And 9 wouldn't have let that danger slip so easily under his radar.

Now his niece was missing, in mortal danger, and his brothers and sister had run to her rescue. He still wasn't sure if he should be concerned about Pi, also taken in the night. The others seemed willing to be concerned. And he supposed, if everything worked out, she would be, like, his sister-in-law or something. That should have given him the willies... But as he strained to think about this, in the long and dark hours of waiting, he found that it didn't. He wasn't sure what he felt about it.

He had long abandoned trying to think seriously about anything, and returned his energy to focusing on the courtyard. If anything so much as moved out there, he would see it. And if it wasn't his family, it would find a projectile lodged squarely in its face.

A few hours ago, the day had dawned with a flash of green that filled 8 with a feeling of nostalgia. It was still almost painfully familiar. Somewhere, life had been dragged back into the mortal plane. That boded very well-he decided that his brother must have succeeded in doing something. He hoped that Dixie was okay...

But he still wasn't leaving the tower. Not until he saw with his own eyes that they returned.

It was just past noon when he saw someone dash off the street and right into the courtyard. And his fury boiled quickly to the surface at seeing it was not one of his own. He didn't know who it was or who it could be. He reached for the alarm bell, riged to go off with a tug of a thick cord, and clanged it loudly several times. Now everyone would know that there was a stranger on the grounds. Not bothering to wait for an answer, he grabbed a long bow from his arsenal and loaded it.

He wished 5 hadn't taken the crossbow. Those didn't require as much effort to use, and his own aim wasn't that great. But it was the best he could do in this moment, from the distance. As it was, the stranger in the courtyard had also heard the alarm and halted, looking all around for the source of the noise. All the easier to aim for.

But while he worked a little too hard to aim straight, two figures darted out of the library towards the stranger. He immediately recognized 1 and 2, and lowered his bow a little; not much, they might still need a defense. He impatiently watched as the two men stopped to speak to the stranger, who had doubled over and was breathing hard. After a brief moment in conversation, they hurriedly helped the stranger to the entrance.

Wondering what danger they might be letting into their home this time, 8 grumbled in his throat. Abandoning the bow and taking up his favorite sword, he lumbered to the elevator.

When he arrived in the common room, he found what was left of the clan gathered. The stranger-a pale blue woman almost as big as himself-sat sprawled out on the sofa, still panting for air. She looked like she had just ran a marathon. Now that they were all present, 2 called their attention.

"Everyone," he said slowly, "this is Iyar, of the third clan. She's brought us some news."

Iyar raised a heavy hand, waved quickly and spastically at them all, and let her hand flop back down on the sofa. Clearly, she was exhausted.

_"What news?"_ 3 asked right away._ "Are mom and dad and everyone okay?"_

Iyar straightened herself a bit and took a deep breath to speak.

"They're fine," she said, gasping between her short sentences. "They're alive. With us. They did it. We're free."

"All of them?" 1 clarified. "All of them made it back?"

Iyar nodded, triumphant in spite of her fatigue. "And then some."

The whole clan gave a unanimous sigh of relief.

_"They got Pi back as well?"_ 4 asked hopefully.

"And more," Iyar agreed, finally finding the breath to speak clearer. "They got back my brother. And my sister. And everyone else he had ever taken. They destroyed him. That monster can never hurt us again."

6 giggled happily. "I know. I told them that," he said helpfully.

Iyar gave him a benevolent smile. "I don't doubt that, kid. My own brother went with them, you know." With a more thoughtful face she continued, "The children of Israel were once Yahweh's chosen people. I suppose our race is His chosen, now."

At the mention of this Yahweh, 6's googley eyes went wide. "Oh. You know Him," he said in quiet reverence.

No one else understood what that was supposed to mean. "Where is our family now?" 2 asked, changing the subject.

"With my clan. Sleeping. They'll return tomorrow; they're all very tired and need their rest. That 9 of yours is something else, I tell you. And that 5, too-he's a hero, with everything he's done for that girl. When everyone else gave up on her, he never did. If that isn't a hero, I don't know what is. You're a lucky clan to have them."

That was comforting to hear. After all they had been through, 8 was happy his brothers had succeeded so thoroughly. And he was happy that other people could see it. For the first time, it occurred to him that he was very proud of them. He was even proud of 5. He didn't know that was possible.

"There's more," Iyar added. "There is to be a gathering, a week from today, and all the clans have to be there."

Several excited glances went across the room, but 1 suddenly looked very nervous.

"...All of us?" He asked.

"Sure. We're all alive again. And we haven't seen each other in almost two years, 'crept by accident. This is the most I've seen of another clan in a long time! We've got to regroup, now that all the unpleasantness is behind us." With a grin she remarked, "I even understand there's to be a wedding or something."

2's eyes were wide, now. "A what?"

"Don't quote me on that, mind you," she insisted, throwing up her hands to stop him. "I don't know too much about it, I only heard a whisper from Adar, my brother. He knows something... Anywho, 5 had hung around with the first clan to talk about something when they others left; they got back a few hours before he did. As soon as he got back, my dad sent me off to you guys 'bout all this. A lot of crazy stuff happened last night. I don't know the details, and don't know if I want to.

"Suffice it to say:" she said, counting off in her fingers, "your family's alright, and so's the baby; everyone who was dead is alive again, but don't bother asking me how; there's a gathering a week from today, and y'all have to be there; and then something about a wedding, I think-but again, don't quite me on that.

"And... I think that's just about everything. I ran all the way here, as fast as I could to tell you."

She suddenly turned her head and looked up at 8, noticing him for the first time, and gave him a smile. "Well, if you're not a tall drink of water. When'd you get here, big guy?"

"Uh..." 8 hurried to hide his sword behind his back, but it was a little late. Iyar noticed it anyway and laughed shortly, but didn't say anything about it. He was grateful for that; he certainly didn't mean her any harm, now.

"Do you mind if I sit for a while?" She asked, mostly to 1 and 2. "I'm pretty tired, you can imagine. I didn't even sleep last night, not after my brother left."

"Of course," 2 agreed at once. "Take all the time you need, young lady. Thank for coming so quickly."

"No problem," she answered with a casual salute. "You'da done the some for us, yeah?"

_"We didn't sleep much, either,"_ 3 added, tiredly rubbing his neck._ "My sister apparently slept like a rock. I don't know how she did it..."_

"I think we could all use some sleep," 2 agreed, stifling a yawn. "How can an old man sleep, when most of his children are off on a suicide mission? Go on to bed, the lot of you."

3 staggered off almost at once with a tired smile. _"It'll be nice..."_

"I can stand watch," 6 volunteered quickly, excited to be useful.

"Go on to the watchtower then," 2 consented, "while your brothers aren't around to stop you. I think 8 has earned a long rest."

8 tried not to sigh too loudly at that. He silently agreed, he could use some sleep while there was nothing dangerous to look out for. 6 scurried past him out of the common room, looking very thrilled and pleased with himself. At a more casual pace, 4 waked after him.

_"I'll go keep him company,"_ she decided. _"Anyway, I've already slept. How can I go back to sleep with so much happening? Sleep well, 8. We'll see you later."_

With the youngsters out of the way, 1 turned to him sternly.

"8, show our guest to a proper bed. It won't do to leave her on the sofa, like a Neanderthal."

While he wondered to himself what a Neanderthal was, he took Iyar by the hand and hauled her to her weary feet. Since she was half asleep already, he steered her down the hall to his own room. If it was a proper bed she needed-and more than deserved for her effort-he supposed she deserved better than a cot in the infirmary. There was one his size; but it wasn't really a proper bed.

Though she was falling asleep on her feet, she seemed to notice at once that he had led her to his own living space and was making her lie down in his large bed.

"I can't take your bed," she insisted tiredly. "You've gotta sleep somewhere, fella."

8 just shrugged. "I'll sleep anywhere," he bumbled, and turned to head for the infirmary.

"Gee," she sighed, falling back on his pillow. "The other giants are gonna like you."

Even though he was tired, it occurred to him that her last comment was odd. But as he fell into his oversized infirmary cot and drifted off, he decided he liked the sound of that.

The other giants...

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As with the third clan, only two had been lost from the second-Nathan the Prophet, who had been caught off his guard, and Samson the warrior, who had gone looking for his missing brother. Alive and mostly whole, they picked their way through the ruins together, hoping that their clan hadn't moved since they had been gone. Samson had his strong, rust-colored arm around Nathan, who wasn't in the best shape, but well enough to limp the few hours home.

"What an adventure this has been, hm?" He mused. "I'm glad it's over."

Nathan nodded his head, but remained silent. Even though he was limping and needed repair, he gazed over the world with a grin. Samson did the same, his heart swelling with joy to be a part of it again.

"It's so beautiful. It must be mid-summer by now."

"June," Nathan supplied quietly. "It is June, now. Midsummer is to come, still."

"Say, brother, do you know where the others are?"

"...Home," the Prophet decided after a pause. "They will be there."

Samson's smile grew. "The Lord provides, indeed. He was there, with us, in the midst of that fight. You, of all people, must have felt His presence."

Nathan looked up at his brother with his usual, gentle smile. "Shall we sing His praises?"

"I think that is a brilliant idea. It's been a long time since we've been able to sing, hasn't it?"

"But we sang anyway. We sang prayers. And prayers. And prayers."

"Yes, we did, with our very souls. But now, let us sing with our voices, as well. _I love The Lord, who heard my cry..._"

_"And pitied every groan," _Nathan continued, recalling the spiritual he loved so much. And then they sang together:

_"Long as I live, and troubles rise, I'll hasten too Christ's throne."_

The remainder of their journey was spent in song. It felt overwhelmingly good to sing out loud again. To be alive again. Surely, the presence of The Lord was in the land. The other clans could attribute it to anything they liked; but Samson and Nathan, at least, knew that it was by grace alone that they had been brought back.

_Our return is going to knock them off their blocks. I wonder what they will have to say...?_

Samson thought of his Lydia-their richly purple-skinned Bearer-and hoped she wouldn't die of a heart attack to see them again. All the time he had spent trapped in the first clan's talisman, he had thought of her with regret. He should have told her before of his hidden feelings; he thought she would never know. He thought he would never know if she felt the same for him. He had spent many of his soulful prayers on her, and that she would be alright, even if he never saw her again. She meant so much to him...

_She's probably found love in one of the others,_ he thought mournfully. _How could she not? So much time has passed; shes probably forgotten all about me. Surely, she must be married now; she must even have children. Oh, I was a fool for not telling her when I had the chance..._

Their home soon came into view-a backyard tool shed, facing them from across an overgrown yard. The house stood mostly smashed opposite them, not that their clan ever ventured into it. But the tool shed had remained intact and suitable for living in. A fully grown human being could have lived in it rare comfortabley. Seeing their home at long last, Nathan attempted to quicken his step; but his limp held him back, and so did Samson.

"Don't worry, little brother," he insisted gently. "We'll be inside with our family in good time."

In fact, to their further joy, someone had already seen them coming and was running up to meet them. It was olive green Ezekiel, the scholar, and the next best thing the clan had for a defender, who must have been standing watch. He crossed the yard to them and flung his arms around them, knocking them to the ground in a heap of laughter.

"You've come home!" The young man tearfully exclaimed, holding his brothers close. "Where have you been all this time? Oh, but it doesn't matter-you're home! You're home!"

Nathan struggled out of Ezekiel's arms and clutched his bad leg, wincing in pain.

"Ow, ow, ow..."

"What's wrong?" Ezekiel asked worriedly, looking right to Nathan's injury. "What happened to him?"

"A long story, Zeke," Samson said quickly, and helped the Prophet back up. "We need to get him inside."

"Wow, they aren't going to believe this," his brother said in wonder, and also out his arm around Nathan to help him walk. "You have to tell us everything."

"You won't miss a detail, I promise. Is everyone well?"

"Yeah, but they'll be all the better to see you again."

"And... Lydia?"

Ezekiel tried not to grin too hard at that. "She'll be overjoyed. Believe me."

He was one of the few who knew about Samson's deep affections for their Bearer. Of course he would understand.

The shed was illuminated by sunlight as the three shuffled inside. The rest of the clan was gathered in plain sight around their communal fire, going about their normal business. It seemed they had gone on with life since their brothers had vanished. All the same, a tangible pall hung over them. Their missing were clearly, sorely missed.

"Hey, everyone!" Ezekiel called to them. "Looks who's back!"

All six of them looked up at once, and then stood dumbfounded. Nathan grinned back at them, very happy to see them agian. Samson waved for both of them.

"We're home."

With varied cries of joy and relief, the clan rushed to see them. And in an instant, Samson found himself back in the floor, surprised but not begrudged to be pinned under the weight of red-haired Lydia's fierce embrace.

"You're alive!" She cried in his ear. "You're alive! You're really alive!"

More than overwhelmed to see her again, he returned her hug and laughed and laughed. He couldn't contain himself, he was so happy. He thought to say her name, bge her calm down so he could sit up and see her lovely face. But before he could, she took his face in her hands and pressed her mouth tight against his.

He was so shocked, he was paralyzed for a long, sweet, surreal moment. All the words he had though to say we're gone in a flash. As she kissed him again, he held her all the tighter and kissed her right back. She released him slightly and looked right into his eyes.

"I've missed you so much..."

"Lydia, I love you. I should have told you before..."

She smiled back, her lip trembling. "I love you, too."

Oh, how he had longed to hear her say those words, from the moment he had first seen her. In a windfall, all his deepest prayers had been answered.

Their wonderful romantic moment was ended by a heartwarming chuckle above them. Of course he hadn't seen when, but the clan's elder had appeared above them, hands on his hips with a smile on his face.

"More than one prayer has been answered today, my son," he said warmly, as if reading Samon's mind. Kneeling beside them and placing his hand on the younger man's shoulder, he added, "Slmething tells me you've been on quite the journey."

Samson sat right up, still holding Lydia close in one arm, and gripped the old man's arm.

"Father, so much has happened. There's so much we have to tell you all."

"Tell away, then. We're listening."

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The fourth clan had been so badly depleted, a full six of them marched together through the vast Empitness. And coloring almost all of their moods was fuming Rosemary, trudging along indignantly with her arms crossed with a sour scowl.

"It's not fair," she grumbled after a considerable silence. "Mum won't stand for this."

"She suspected the first clan had something to do with the disappearances all along," agreed pale green Oregano. "Just wait until she finds out. She'll see justice done at the gathering. We'll all see her talk some sense into Epsilon's head."

So far, reserved Tarragon was glad to notice, Rosemary and Organo were the only two to feel so strongly about it. What the others thought was yet unknown; they had walked a long way in tense quiet. Maybe because some of them weren't willing to voice their conflicting opinions, after the firy woman had snapped at him before.

Tarragon had always felt there was something fishy going on with the first clan, beyond the disappearances. He had turned out to be right about that. He was more than willing to believe that it wasn't Pi's fault so many of them had been killed, after everything he had seen from within the talisman. Unlike his sister, he was even willing to give the child the benefit of the doubt. She wasn't even a fully mature adult yet.

But Rosemary couldn't see past her merciless slaughter four years earlier, and sorely wanted revenge. Whether or not her furious soul had paid attention to what was happening was a mystery. Even if she had, it was just like her to not give a flaming crap. She had been dead and enslaved to a monster for four years. All she wanted was retribution.

_Now, dammit._

For himself, Tarragon could care less about revenge. He was just happy to be free and alive again. And he was excited to see what remained of his family again.

"You know, the fact that only 12 people were actually taken is a blessing," he mentioned, carefully choosing very neutral words. "Wow, if the fifth clan hadn't shown up, who knows how long this could have gone on."

To that, Rosemary scoffed. "Idiots. I mean, really! Did you see that one-eyed freak of nature stand up for her like that? It should be criminal to be that stupid! Just wait-he'll be the first person she kills next, and _then_ they'll all be sorry."

Several of them sniggered cruelly at the thought of it.

"Bet he thinks she's in _loooove_ with him, too," laughed teenaged Dill.

"She'll get him in the night, while he's sleeping," added his slightly younger brother, Thyme, who punched him hard on the shoulder. "Not much different from you, huh, Dilly?"

The two began bickering and hitting each other, like the gross little boys they were at heart. Tarragon stifled an annoyed sigh. Rosemary brooding, Oregano sucking up to her, the boys scuffling around, the rest of them too intimidated to speak up...

Geez. All that time stuck in a magical talisman, and none of them had changed at all. Depressing, really...

Trying to take his mind off that, he looked over at Sage, the Prophet, as she sort of skipped along, her blonde pigtails flouncing around with her every abrupt movement. She was oblivious to the rest of them, grinning goofily over the world as if she had never seen it before. She hadn't changed either, but that was really okay with him.

"Hey, Sage, what are you thinking about?" He asked.

"Oh... The sun and stuff," she answered vaguely.

Hearing her voice for the first time, Rosemary snapped her attention to the Prophet. "What about our home?" She demanded. "Are they still there? What do you see?"

"I see the sun," the girl answered plainly, gazing up at the sky. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Mr. Sun? Boy, is it a nice day today."

"How about something that's actually useful?" Rosemary growled back. "Tell us where mum is!"

Sage went on staring at the sky.

"...Nah."

Rosemary then turned her glare on Tarragon, silently demanding that he force an answer out of the girl. Unwilling to do something to mean after they had finally come back, he just shrugged.

"Prophets, right?"

Rosemary rolled her eyes and scoffed loudly at him, and returned to her silent fuming. Tarragon suddenly couldn't see how she could be so mad at Mu for what she had done, and why she should want to take it out on someone else-if not on Pi, then on the rest of her clan. She was perfectly fine with it. They had been so alike, she and Mu. They had been very friendly before. Rosemary had practically painted a target on her back, really.

Would she have even balked at being Alpha's servant, if he had asked her? Tarragon felt a shiver run down his spine, and decided not to trust her for a good long while.

They were still a way from their home-the small but amazingly intact house that had belonged to their own creator-when they spotted three other Stitchpunks down the road ahead of them. Tarragon and Sage noticed them first; squinting to see in the bright light, his heart lept up. The tall, slender figure ahead of him was instantly recognizable: Chamomile, his sister, the fourth clan's Bearer.

"Found 'em," Sage cheered, and then bolted away down the street. Not bothering to see what his brothers thought of his cheerfulness, Tarragon ran after her, intent on hugging his mother.

Hearing Sage's high-pitched voice for the first time in three years, majestic Chammomile stopped at once and turned to look. Holding her hand, the smallest member of their family, silver and green Peppermint with her long, raven hair also stopped and spun around to see as well. While the tall teenager hesitated, probably not believing what she was seeing, the little girl squealed with delight and ran up to meet Sage.

As the two girls collided in the middle of the street, holding each other and laughing merrily, Tarragon kept running in past them. He ran until he flew into the arms of Parsely, his mother and elder. And he quickly found himself sandwiched between her and Chamomile, laughing in his ear.

"I knew you'd be back, big brother!" She cheered, her sturdy, butter-yellow arms tightening like a serpent around his waist. She was squeezing the air out of him, making it impossible to answer her, but he didn't care. It was just a miracle to be here, to see them again at all.

As quickly as she had taken him into her arms, Parsley pushed him back a bit, still gripping him defensively by his shoulders, and have him a hard look. "Where have you been, young man?" She demanded angrily. "You take off in the middle of the night, leave the three of us defenseless, and disappear for the better part of the year! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Mom, mom, its alright," he insisted in the calmest voice he could manage. "Oh my gosh, you guys, so much has happened I don't know where to start. It's just... It's amazing!"

"Where _have_ you been?" Chamomile asked, giving him direction.

"...With the first clan, I suppose you could say," he answered slowly. "Mom... Chammy... We've been dead, the others and I."

Chamomile looked confused, tilting her head to one side and regarding her brother as if he were a bit crazy. But Parsely looks very concerned, and suspicious.

"I knew it," she muttered, sounding mildly pleased. "I just knew there was something going on with them. Oh, I hated to think of my poor Epsilon being up to no good, but... I still can't believe it was his fault."

"It wasn't, mom. It was the Bearer-"

Chamomile made a dismissive noise. "I didn't know they had a Bearer."

"It's a long story. Lets get home. We'll tell you everything, then. And there's still so much to be done, too! Just wait until you hear all this..."

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The third clan's summer home had seen utter chaos of all kinds in the last several hours. From fear and shock, to a time of tense worry and excitement, to overwhelming joy at seeing all its missing members return. But now it was nice and quiet again. In fact, the heroes had long since fallen into deep and well-earned slumber. All four of them slept like the dead, and Tishrei could not say he blamed them.

Cheshvan had been unable to sleep, though-not when he was alive and home, and could hold his wife and two children close once again. Only six months he had been gone, but he could see he had missed a lot in that time. He couldn't remember where his son had gotten most of his mended scars and patches; and Hadassah, his daughter, had learned to walk while he hadn't been there to see it. Keslev was so overwhelmed by his return that she couldn't seem to stop crying, not even to say how much she had missed him or how hard she had prayed to see him again.

Seeing that they wouldn't be needing their bed for a while, the very happy couple had told 7 and 9 to take it instead. The exhausted warrior woman had tumbled face-first into her borrowed pillow, asleep before her head even hit it, and her husband had done pretty much the same. 9 had returned with a scar covering one side of his face, and was almost too weak to walk; his placidness was so unusual, and obviously caused by something unearthly.

While the rest of the clan clammored around Cheshvan and Sivan, drilling them for the details of their adventure, Tishrei had retreated. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know all the details. For now, he sat on the edge of Adar's bed, watching his youngest son slumbering deeply and peacefully. It had been a while since he had been at peace with himself. Being unable to save his brother had taken a terrible toll on him. At last, his soul was healing.

Tishrei laid a gentle hand in his son's shoulder; of course the boy didn't stir at all. He sighed to himself and smiled. He looked up as another precense suddenly joined him, and wasn't surprised to see it was Nisan. Her blue veil fell gracefully over her shoulders and covered her tumbling black hair; though a tell-tale streak of silver thread shone in it here and there.

Such a pretty woman. And his wife, no less. He was very proud of her, as he usually was. But in this moment, her bemused smirk seemed to silently point out that there was a lavish apology to be had. Tishrei's smile fell, and he suddenly couldn't bear to look at her. He was so ashamed of himself.

"I know, I know. I should have listened to you, my dear. From the bottom of this old heart, I am sorry."

"It happens," she answered vaguely, but appeared to be satisfied. She sat down beside him and held his free hand. With a sigh of her own, she sated, "It has all come to pass, just as He said it would. The day is new, indeed."

There was still an air of disappointment to her statement, though. She had spent the night in prayerful meditation, awaiting a sign that her son had completed his mission. And it had come early in the morning, a vision of great victory, but also of great sadness. In the course of an hour, a Bearer and a Prophet had both been lost. The loss of the first clan's Prophet had shaken Nisan to her core, an invisible blow that had hit her heart with full force.

It was such a shame: all the other clans had been mended, but the first now had more holes than ever before.

"Iyar is safe," she remarked. "She has delivered your message, as told. She will be home, and will travel with us next week. And there... More than a few things will be put to rights."

"Will the fifth clan be there?" Tishrei asked. Of course me knew they would be; but he hoped to hear his wife tell him more.

"They will all be there," she answered, closing her eyes to see better. She smiled softly. "Oh... Their little Prophet will be a sweet thing."

"It will be nice to see 1 again. I haven't seen him since..." Tishrei trailed off, trying to remember his last encounter with his fellow Elder. The five of them-Epsilon and Peter, Parsley and 1, and himself-had only been together briefly, before any of the others had been created. And four of them had stayed in touch; but 1 had vanished. It was just like him, and he had threatened to leave and never return. It had been a sad thing when he made good in that promise.

As such, no one had seen much of the fifth clan in years. There had been unconfirmed rumors over the years, distant sightings and unexpected chance encounters with a certain masked warrior who must have been run-away 7 all that time. There had simply been no contact with them until 9 had appeared out of the blue the previous year, unaware that there were other clans at all. Apparently, none of them had known.

It was just like 1, to keep such a secret for so long. Tishrei couldn't wait to see him, and give him a proper scolding for his general unpleasantness. The other Elders would scold him as well. Nonetheless, they would be happy to have him back. And they would be happy to have his clan around, the way it was supposed to have been. What little was known of them was impressive. He couldn't wait to meet the rest of them.

Nisan opened her eyes and made a thoughtful face. "They will arrive ten strong," she said finally, as a smile crept back into her face. "However, eleven will return to their home in the library. The whisper is true."

"That is exciting," Tishrei agreed. "The girl will have a good home with them. I will look forward to what happens with them in the days to come."

"Great things, to be sure," she agreed, patting sleeping Adar on the head. "Some happy, and some sad, as it is with families. Many things will change, my dear."

"But change is often good for us."

"Yes... For now, let our heroes rest. There is much for them still to face."


	27. Epilogue: Perfectly Free

Well, this epilogue has been done, and redone, and then done some more. We could also title it, _The Epilogue That Would NOT Cooperate_. But that would sound retarded, so I'm not going to do that. :/

You can expect to see _Beneficial_ at some point in April. I've made the bold decision to jump right into grad school as soon as possible, and also to look for a new job. Lots of adult things going on in my life right now... My mind is so far beyond boggled...

Which gives me ideas for the impending sequel...! But then, I've already got tons and tons of ideas for that. ;D

Yes, I've glanced over yet _another_ wedding, and I know that a certain young lady is going to be rather dissapointed. What can I say? I'm terrible at them. Is it weird, or favoritistic, that I've managed to end a story about 5 with 9's POV? Meh. I've already struggled enough with this ending. It has to end. _It must end_. I'll take what I can get.

Blah, blah, blah, enough about me. I know who you all _really_ want to hear about. Foreshadowing will be epic, and hearts will be warmed. Also, blatant references to _Of Knots and Loose Ends,_ which I wrote over Christmas. Go read it, if you haven't yet!

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_Epilogue: Perfectly Free_

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It was the second day of the gathering, with a good three or four still to come, and 9 had already seen several amazing things happen. Even the short journey to the ruin of town hall had been magical, if only to see his beloved brother marching proudly to his wedding day. It had been a long time since anyone had seen 5 so happy, let alone so full of joy. The incredible change in him was a triumph by itself.

That whole first afternoon and evening of the gathering had been so busy, 9 only remembered a few, important things with certain clarity. So much had suddenly happened in those few short hours. All of a sudden, he had two new sisters in his fellow Bearers-Lydia and Chamomile. Adar had spoken vaguely of them once before, and 9 had hoped to meet them one day. And now, here they were. Chamomile was very tall; but her bubbly personality betrayed the fact that she was still a child, really. Lydia was calm and mature, like her Bearers-brothers, a fine young woman with her own personal mysteries, sorrows and joys. As it was, she also had many reasons to be glad-she found herself recently engaged to be married, to her own clan's Warrior.

"No way!" He had exclaimed when she mentioned it. "I'm married to my clan's Warrior!"

Lydia had smiled and laughed."I guess we both have good taste, then."

All five of the clans had sectioned themselves into small cliques of four or five, depending sadly on which of the first clan were still alive. As soon as they had arrived, 1 had been accosted by his fellow Elders with an enormous group hug that he hadn't wanted, but had no prayer of escaping from. They had spent the rest of the day and most of the night in deep, serious discussion of all their adventures over the years. 1 had spent the trip there complaining that he didn't want to go, and that he didn't want to see any of his former comrades; however, once they dragged him off, he didn't seem to mind anymore. In fact, he seemed to be quite happy.

2 ended up in a group of youngsters, which happened to include Gamma and Av. They were the Creators-ingenious and inventive, always seeking to work with their hands to make something new out of nothing. 2, of course, built technology; Gamma created music, and Av used paint to create art. Adam of the second clan, they soon learned, was a weaver of cloth; and 9 quickly got the impression that he would be dealing with the man a lot in the future. However, there was one member of their group whose speciality was yet unknown: vicious Rosemary, instantly recognizable from the week before. Whatever it was she preferred to create, she refused to say.

The twins found themselves separated, which was little surprise. 3 found himself with Theta and the other Seekers-the curious ones, always looking for answers and questioning facts. They were unusual, in the fact that they had six, not five in their group. No one was quite sure how, but the fourth clan had two Seekers: Thyme, and his slightly younger twin, Dill. That was not surprising at all; their creator had been a twin, himself. But somehow, unlike 3 and 4, who were separate pieces of the same soul, Thyme and Dill each shared a half of the same piece.

_I wonder how that happened?_ 9 had thought, immediately curious as usual. He made a mental note to do some research on that when he got home.

Great as it was that his adopted children had found their proper places, he tried not to be too alarmed when 4 found herself surrounded by the Nurturers-the parental figures, whose ultimate calling was to raise and teach the next generation with gentleness and humility. Keslev was among them, and she was certain to look after their youngest member, by dint of her nature. Still... She was only a child. Could it truely be, that a Nurtuerer lay beneath her skin?

7 had gone with the Warriors, who only numbered four. Mu would have represented the first clan; they were all quite happy that she wasn't present, after all. In the meantime, 7 certainly did have the youngest child of all the clans; she very proudly showed her baby off to all her new friends, who were all enchanted at once. Daniel got to meet her then; he had followed Cheshvan to be with the Warriors, for he refused to leave his father's side. It suited them fine-Daniel promised to become a very talented Warrior in time, and they would be proud to have him in their ranks. Samson, Lyida's fiancée, had taken heart watching the two children, who had definitely inherited their parent's strength of body and spirit; he looked forward to rearing his own children, with the woman he loved so much.

6 had wandered off on his own, and had instinctively drifted into the circle of Prophets without needing an invitation. He had been received warmly, if not somberly; they were still deep in mourning for the one they had lost so painfully. Nonetheless, Nisan had been there to welcome him with a hug. It was like they already knew him somehow. After that, they had sat in solemn silence, occasionally glancing at one another as if to make sure they were all still there. It seemed that they were, in fact, carrying on a meaningful conversation, only needing to speak with their faces. Whatever they were discussing was a divine mystery. Surely, 6 felt right at home for the first time.

Then there had been the Giants, also numbering a mere four. Kappa had been killed in the early days of the war, and no one really knew much about him; even his family lamented that they had only come to know little about him. There was little to know about them, anyway: they were all big and brawny without much to say, prone to think way more with their muscles than with their minds. But their strength, inability to be moved, and always-sturdy presence were assets that everyone could appreciate. 8 had quickly gravitated to Iyar, who he already knew and was obviously intrigued by. He had never met a woman as big as he was, after all; and her folksy way of speaking amused him. It was nice to see that he was making friends.

Then finally-absolutely not surprising at all-5 had found his place in the circle of Innocents, right next to his lovely bride-to-be. He had turned out to be the oldest of this group, as well; most of them were young children, including weary-looking Sivan, and small but well spoken Peppermint of the fourth clan. The happy couple had been perfectly comfortable entertaining their littlest new friend; Pi quickly turned out to be very good with the little ones. But that evening, 5 had returned to his family with some interesting and unsettling observations.

"Sivan's in bad shape," he had said sadly, shaking his head. "Her body's been patched up a little, but she still needs a lot of work done, especially on the inside. She tries to out on a cheerful face... But she's in a lot of pain. She's such a brave little girl; she doesn't deserve this."

9 had paused to process this. Sivan's body had been left to deteriorate in that pit for a very long time. Her pale yellow skin had looked enough of a fright-blotched with green and gray mildew stains, and even ripped in one or two places-but it was nothing a skilled hand couldn't fix. Her wiring, however... It wasn't surprising that she should be as much a wreck on the inside as she was on the outside. 9 had sighed to himself, weighing the options she had.

"The third clan can't fix her. It's beyond their skill," he decided. "I need to talk to Adar about this, then. But-between my research and your tools-I think we can help her."

"There's more. Peppermint needs work done, as well. Her soul is entirely too big for that small body. She needs a new one. Soon."

"She must be uncomfortable. Poor kid..."

"Yeah, she is. But, again, she puts on a smile and takes it one step at a time."

At this, in face of all the work that lay ahead of them, 9 smiled and patted his brother on the shoulder. "Kind of reminds me of a really terrific guy I know. I really admire that about the five of you-you're always so optimistic. And you never forget to hope for the impossible. You all share this wonderful childlike belief in things, but it isn't childish at all. The rest of us should never take that for granted, like we do."

"I had forgotten how to hope like that once. You were the one who taugh me how again. 9... You knew there was hope for me all along, didn't you?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "Trying to get the message across without breaking my word was hard. I thought I had failed miserably."

"I didn't understand for a long time. I wish you could have just told me."

"But you see now why I didn't, right?"

"Yeah, I do. I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of that power, either. All that time we were in that garage, battling a monster, there was _something_ in there with us, fighting right alongside us. It saved us. Seeing how easily It allowed Alpha to be destroyed... It could have turned on us just as easily. I don't blame you. I would have done the same, in the end."

After a moment in reverent, reflective silence, 9 tried and failed to stifle a yawn. It was infectious, and 5 also couldn't help a yawn of his own.

"You need to get some rest. You've got a big day tomorrow."

"I know... I still can't believe I'm getting married in the morning. It's like everything I ever hoped for just came true in the blink of an eye. It seems like its too good to be true; only this time, it's really happening."

That brief parting had been the end of the first day. Now it was early in the afternoon of the second day, and the sounds of great celebration had filled town hall. Thanks to Gamma, there were only rare moments without music-she played away on her flute, while her twin accompanied her on a tambourine, and occasionally with her high, pretty singing voice. Pi had been right about them before, they made a wonderful musical duo. In spite of loosing one dear sister, the marriage of another had raised their spirits greatly.

The floor of what had once been the city's senate was alive with couples dancing to a waltz the girls were playing. 5 had chosen many of the songs himself. Upon hearing his requested soundtrack, Gamma's whole face had lit up.

"I _love_ Beethoven!" She had answered right away. "I know all his waltzes by heart. Of course I'll play them for you!"

5 had spent a lot of the previous week learning to dance from his brother and sister. They were already very good at several basic dances-especially the waltz-and had been glad to teach him. And now there he was, waltzing with his new wife. They were so charming together, and they suited each other so perfectly. Watching their first dance had been nothing short of beautiful.

The dance floor had long since been opened to anyone who wanted it; now there were several couples from every clan dancing together. Epsilon and Sigma had jumped in right away; Lydia and Samson had soon followed, followed by Adam and his own wife, Eve. Cheshvan had finally convinced Keslev to dance with him, even though she had been shy about it at first. 4 had even hauled 6 into the last few dances; he had seemed to enjoy it, even though he was a terrible dancer.

7 had wanted to dance; alas, her arms were already full of Dixie, who shared everyone's excitement. 9 would have been happy to dance with both of them, as he often did at home, but she had insisted it was alright. However, when 2 offered to relive her for a while, she didn't refuse. They didn't even wait for the next song, and spun right into the dance with everyone else.

After dancing in silence for a few minutes, she made a thoughtful face and smiled.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, I was just admiring your scar," she answered, moving her hand from his shoulder to trace the black stitches on his face. "It becomes you. It makes you look dangerous."

He laughed softly at that. "Because _dangerous_ is the last thing I am. You know something? I really like all this. All the clans together, celebrating. I wish our wedding could have been this big."

"Maybe... It would have been very nice. But I loved it exactly the way it was. You know what I really liked? The vows that 5 chose."

"They sounded familiar..."

"Think about it for a second. It'll come to you."

"Hm... 'I want you to know,'" he repeated slowly, "'I've done all this because I love you. I always have. From the moment I saw you, I have loved you. And I always will.' Oh... I know I've heard that somewhere before..."

"Yes you have, because _you_ were the one who said it first," she laughed. "That's what you said to me, the first time I told you I loved you. Almost word for word. I'll never forget that. How could you forget?"

He mentally smacked himself in the face. "That's right! How _could_ I forget? I wonder how he knew...?"

"Well, they weren't his own words... But they were perfect. It was such a wonderful secret of ours; but it was a shame that such beautiful words had to go unheard for so long."

"Aw, 7, stop it. You're making me blush."

"And it sure made Rosemary shut up," she added dryly. "I don't think I've heard two words out of her all day. And after she spent all yesterday complaining about it. I'd like to see anyone try to challenge them, now."

That was a lovely truth. Rosemary had proven her unpleasantness yesterday; 2 had returned being a bit frightened by her, and also concerned about her state of mind. He said she seemed unstable and manic, and that it was no surprise that she and Mu had been friends. He had warned everyone to stay away from her, not that they really needed that advice. She had been unrelenting and very loud in her opinion that anyone who dared to trust Pi was stupid and probably deserved to die as much as she did. The fifth clan was glad to avoid her. It might have eventually come to blows if they had tried to confront her. It sounded like a lot of people were ready punch her in the face.

Yet she had been unusually quiet all day, and had in fact made herself quite scarce. The festivities were all the better for her absence, and no one gave her a second thought. The occasion was too good to let her get anyone down.

"Hey, 9, do you think we're finally safe?"

"That's a hard question to answer," he admitted. "It's still a very big world, for such small folk."

"And anything can still happen?"

"Yes. But for the time being, I think most of those things will be good. We have a lot to look forward to."

"I never thought of us as small. Just that the world is bigger than we are. Humans weren't all that different, that way. The world must have seemed very big to them sometimes, as well."

"Then we'll all take it one step at a time, until the world is charted again, just like they did. Now that there isn't just the nine of us to do it alone, maybe it won't be as difficult anymore."

7 smiled again, with a rare hopeful look on her face. "Sounds like an amazing adventure. I can't wait to start it."

As the steps of the waltz turned them, 9 looked over at his brother and new sister, oblivious to everything but each other and the lilting music. But when they noticed him watching them, they gave him a pair of grateful smiles.

"7, my dearest, I think that adventure's already begun. From now on... It's only what we make of it."


	28. Sneak-Peek at Beneficial

A sneak-peek at what is coming soon to a fandom near you...

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_**Beneficial**_

_Prologue: Scarborough Fair_

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It wasn't every day, anymore, that Ian came to call. So when Thom opened the door and found his twin standing there, he was surprised on a number of levels. The slightly younger man didn't even pause, pushing past his brother and storming inside.

"It's a fine mess you've gotten me into this time, Thom," he grumbled. "Just look at me! Look at my face!"

Thom was startled by how much his twin had changed in a few short months. He had lost so much weight, he looked sick. His face was weathered and tired, as if he had suddenly aged 20 years or more, and all the color had drained from his once brown hair. They had spent their whole lives sharing the exact same face. Today, only their prominent noses and brown eyes showed that they could even be related at all.

Ian was much farther along with his part of the secret project. In fact, he had five Stitchpunks left to create. Thom had only created the first of his so far, and only because the five of them had all created their firsts together. After that, they had gone one at a time creating their other eight. As soon as he had shut the door and the lock clicked shut, a familiar blonde head popped out of Ian's coat pocket, looking around eagerly for her many comrades.

"I see you brought Parsley," Thom noted, trying to make pleasant conversation. At the observation, Ian visibly softened.

"I thought, as long as I was coming here, she ought to be with them," he explained, gently scooping the blonde Stitch-woman out of his pocket. Seeing Thom, she smiled and waved.

"Always a pleasure to see you, Thom," she greeted.

He returned her smile. Parsley had certainly been endowed with her creator's softer side.

"The others are all upstairs," he said, leading the way to the stairs. There were already 24 other personalities mingling in his study on the fourth floor, most of whom Parsley didn't know very well. It felt like they had taken over the study for their own personal ends, a better dwelling place now for curious, industrious Stitchpunks than for a human scientist. In fact, he feared he would have to move them somewhere else before he began his own.

_1 is going to hate that,_ he thought, not for the first time, as they climbed the stairs. It seemed like 1 didn't like things in general. Having the pickiest and most intolerant part of his soul removed had proven to have its benefits recently. But he wished it hadn't chosen to go into the one who would be his clan's leader. It was a shame, but there wasn't much he could do about it now.

At the top of the second flight, Ian had stop to catch his breath.

"You just _had_ to hide them all the way at the top, didn't you," he snapped.

"The last place government officials would bother to look. Who wants to hike up four flights of stairs?"

"Certainly not I. I'm not as young as I was last month."

The change in his own brother bothered him intensely. Thinking how this was what he was likely to become made his stomach lurch uncomfortably.

"Ian, I can take her from here," he offered. "Go on to the kitchen. I'll make us some tea when I get back."

Ian handed his first and rather favorite creation over, and then sulked back down the stairs and out of sight. Thom continued upwards alone, say for Parsley's lighthearted company.

"How are the others these days?" He asked.

"A rowdy bunch, now that there's more of them," Parsley answered in a disapproving tone. "Still, Sage, Rosey and the boys are mine, and I am quite fond of the four of them."

"Boys? Four? I thought there were only three others yet."

"Hm... There were odd complications surrounding the twins' birth," she answered, compensating her vague wording with flowery vocabulary. When Thom made a very puzzled face, she added, "I'm certain that Ian will explain it all. I'm afraid I couldn't understand it if I tried."

That was true enough. Parsley was an Elder, not a Seeker, and such things failed to hold her interest at all.

"I'm afraid the bunch here has also gotten a bit rowdy," he apologized. "Or perhaps its merely that there are so many and that they've become very loud. It's difficult to tell."

"It will be nice to see my good old boys, though," she remarked with a smile. "I haven't seen them in weeks, and I do miss the company of real adults every once in a while. Rosey looks grown enough; but she is a poor excuse for a lady."

She sounded dissapointed about that. What part of Ian could the young woman have been filled with? He stopped just outside his study door and cracked it open, setting Parsley on the floor to let herself in.

"I'm terrified I might step on one of the youngsters, the way they run about," he explained. "Go right in, ma'am."

Parsley chuckled warmly. "Such respect, young man. That 1 could stand to learn a thing or two from you, about how to treat a lady."

As she walked in, greeted by excited cheers of welcome from various voices, Thom shut the door behind her and sighed to himself. He did, indeed, know how to treat a lady. The fair lady who had taught him since grade school was dead now-all that remained of her were the little pieces of her soul, eight of which now populated his study. He distracted himself from the stab of grief that gripped him, by listening through the door at how happy the other 24 were to see Parsley again.

_Analyn's Bearer is still missing, somewhere, _he thought, another hurdle to distract himself. _All the Bearers so far have yet to be found. I wonder, if any of the three ever left the places where they were born...?_

Thom returned to his kitchen and found Ian sitting at the table, his head resting wearily and impatiently on the table top. He didn't even look up when his twin moved into view, headed for the stove and the copper tea kettle on the counter beside it.

"Parsley seems well," he commented.

"She's already tired of them," he answered. "Just like me. Thom, I can't tell you how old this is getting. The adventure was fun at first, but now I'm ready to run away with what little of myself I still have, and never come back.

"But then, what's even the point in that?" He rambled philosophically. "I've already lost so much of myself, I can never be whole again. What kind of life would that be? I'd may as well stay and see it through. I'm too tired to go very far, anyway..."

Thom listened in silence as he filled the tea kettle and set it on the stove, and filled a teapot with loose early grey-his brother's favorite, he knew. Maybe he just needed to vent on someone. All their friends were already dead. They were all they had left now.

"Thom... I'm going to die soon. I'm going to die for you, and your precious witchcraft. Maybe Johan was right about you and Analyn. Maybe I should have had the courage to listen to him, for once. Then maybe none of us would be where we are."

"You blame me for this?"

"It was your stupid idea! I used to be an artist-I was doing something I loved with my life. So was Johan, and Analyn, and even Eli, even though he was trapped in your attic. And where are they all now? They're all dead because they listened to you."

"Analyn was happy to help me."

"Don't pretend she was at peace with this. She walked into this with you because she loved you. If you loved her too, you would have taken better care of her. She gave you plenty of other choices, and you know it. You could have done anything else, and you chose this anyway. This is _all_ your fault! You've killed us all, Thomas Brian Townsend."

Thom was tempted to shout back; but perhaps it was his soul's newfound lack of impatience that helped keep him silent as his brother continued to list his many offenses.

"Mum and dad are surely spinning in their graves," Ian moaned dramatically, letting his face fall into his hands. "And what is Ignatius going to do? Will he ever know what happened here?"

At the mention of their younger brother, Thom's grudge with him bubbled to the surface. As if reading his feelings, the kettle began to whistle angrily. Turning spitefully to see to it, he barley kept himself from growling like a hungry animal.

"If he cared that much, he wouldn't have betrayed my Machine and run off with all my money," he snapped. "None of this would have been set in motion, if he hadn't handed it over. Clearly, our being here now is all _his_ fault!"

"Sure. Blame it on the child. Very mature of you, Thom. He always thought you were the crazy one."

"We'll if you didn't want to do this so badly, you should have run off to find him. You could have spent your lives with your souls intact, laughing to your graves about what a crazy bafoon I am."

"I couldn't have done that," Ian replied coolly, and odd, manic grin spreading over his face. "Your plan is still insane, and its wearing me to rags. But I was too intrigued by the talisman's charms to turn it down, once Parsley was born."

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you seen it yet? It was one thing for our Analyn, a barren woman who craved children, to split up her soul like this. But for me, and you, and the others... Can't you imagine what it's like, for someone like me-a creator of painted masterpieces? My skill and creativity can only go so far, in acrylics and canvas.

"But this... A rare opportunity to create something no other mortal man ever could..." he explained, becoming more and more manic with every word. He stood up and marched into his brother's face, as his grin became devilish.

"With a talisman, filled with my Source... Thomas, I can create life! No other man on earth can say that he creates something so powerful. I didn't believe it at first... But that shining moment, as I watch Parsley draw her first breath-oh, I knew it was so. _I_ gave her life. All by myself.

"It only goes to show, brother: man truely is greater than the God that Johan and Eli clung so desperately to. He is greater than God, he is greater than woman, and he has earned his place in the world. No one can ever unseat him, while he has this power in his hands.

"And don't think for one second the others didn't feel it, as well. I hope they both died secure in that knowledge. We've outsmarted God, the four of us boys. That invisible whisper is in no place to dudge us. Ha, I hope they were given medals when they got... Wherever it is they went!"

This was a little too much powerlust in one place for Thom's comfort. But as long as his brother was slowly, painfully losing himself, who was he to rain on his parade? Startled as he was, he chose to let his brother spin happily in his revelation. He would be dead soon; better he die happy, thinking he had finally, thoroughly succeed at something, in the end.

_I hope this doesn't happen to me..._

"Sit down, Ian," Thom insisted, propelling his twin back to his chair. Ian did as he was told, pouting like a child all the way. When Thom sat down across from him, setting the teapot and two cups on the table, he took a deep breath while he chose what question to ask next.

"Parsley said something about twins," he said as he filled the cups.

"Oh yes, another creative venture of mine," Ian agreed with the same sinister smile. "I'm not making nine, Thom."

He raised an eyebrow as he raised his cup to his lips. "What do you mean? There are only nine pieces to be split."

"So it would seem. I've split the Seeker in half-I'm making 10."

Thom chocked on his tea, sputtering as some of it burst painfully out of his nose.

"Just the creative genius coming out," Ian went on, triumphant in his brother's pain. "We're already beating God at his own game; so I figured, why not beat Him to the fullest?"

Thom hurriedly wiped his mouth and dripping nose and stared at his brother in mild horror. "How did you do it? How did you survive? That's supposed to kill a person!"

"Luck, I suppose. You could call it... A botched suicide attempt. In fact, I've been so utterly foiled, I've found the strength to see it through to the end. You should see my boys-Thyme and Dill. A slight deviation from the original gameplan, but I like them very much. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme... And Dill.

"Funny," he mused, looking up and off into space. "I hadn't created boys yet. Perhaps they will be just like you and me..."

Thom was unnerved. Now Ian was the crazy one. As he continued to regard his brother with growing concern and alarm, Ian began to hum absentmindedly to himself, and then began to sing in a vague, scratchy voice.

"_Are you going to Scarborough Fair... Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thymmmmmme... And Dill..._"

"I'm tempted not have you leave this house," Thom decided. "I'm going to fetch your things and your other 'punks from your house and bring them all here, but I'll not let you go wandering the streets like this."

Ian looked back at him with a defensive face. "Who are you to care so much?"

"I'm your twin brother, is who."

"I can think perfectly fine for myself, bossy."

"No, Ian, no you can't."

Ian pouted again, and slumped in his chair. "I hope one of your 'punks ends up with a brother as bad as you are."

This time, Thom was able to sip his tea in relative peace. "And perhaps your Thyme and Dill really _will_ be just like you and I."

Ian scowled.

"Touché." He reached for his cup and raised it. "To bad older brothers."

"To bad younger brothers," Thom agreed, clinking his own cup against Ian's.

Neither brother would live to see the impact of that toast, and maybe it was for the better. Their two clans should have been bound as brothers. Instead, over the years to come, Ian's Fair-Punks would only come to cause mayhem, which Thom's Prime-Punks would never be able to mend...


End file.
